Thread: IL: Heater fire forces 18 from two-flat. Extended family?!?

Well now here is a perfect example why overcrowdedness is a safety issue. Only 8?! people were home at time of the fire. Our paper is so pc... No matter if they are family this is a case of unsafe living basement conditions. With every passing week I get angrier at what is happening to this city...


Heater fire forces 18 from two-flat

January 30, 2007

By Nicholas P. Alajakis nalajakis@scn1.com

WAUKEGAN -- For the second time in three days, an unattended space heater caused a fire in the city. Monday's blaze displaced 18 people.

A two-flat at 1720 Catalpa Ave., sustained major damage after a space heater placed too close to a bed burned the sheets, said Waukegan Fire Marshal Steven Lenzi.

The fire started around 12:30 p.m. in a bedroom on the first floor of the bottom unit. As the flames grew, the blaze went out a window, crept up the side of the home and went in through a window on the second floor, Lenzi said.

The fire spread quickly, Lenzi said, as occupants of both units attempted to squelch the flames themselves with water and a pan. The Fire Department was later contacted as smoke and flames became visible from outside the home.

Crews got the fire under control within an hour, with fire damage only affecting one bedroom in each unit. Both units sustained substantial smoke and water damage, Lenzi said.

The fire could have been put out before it got larger if the occupants had not tried to put it out themselves, Lenzi said.

The two units housed a large extended family of 18 people, said Deputy Fire Chief Dan Young. Each unit had two bedrooms, and the basement of the bottom unit had people sleeping in it as well, Young said.

Only eight people were home at the time of the fire, and all escaped without injury. All occupants were with other family or under Red Cross care Monday evening. One firefighter suffered minor burns, but was OK late Monday, Lenzi said.

Damages were estimated at $150,000 to the structure and [red]$450,000 to the contents.[/red] what did they have in there?!

The blaze was unfortunate because it could have been avoided with proper use of the space heater, Lenzi said. When space heaters are placed too close to flammable objects, the heat they emit can easily cause fires.

"We realize a lot of times that people are going to use space heaters," Lenzi said. "Space heaters simply need a space minimum of three feet."

Space heater rules are more important in the winter when many homes and business use them. But not everyone knows and follows the rules, Young said.

It appears that anything you see a car with 8 or more in it or a resident with 10 more living there, it has illegals. Hopefully my taxpayer dollars didn't go to helping these illegals.