Chicago City Wire

A fire at an apartment building on Chicago's northwest side in the early morning hours of Dec. 16 has claimed the life of one person and seriously hurt three others, including a firefighter. 

In an effort to save more lives, firefighters spent some time going door-to-door in the North Marmora Avenue neighborhood where the fire happened, passing out smoke detectors because seconds matter when it comes to making it out of a fire. 

It was just after 2 a.m. when a fire started in the basement of a two-story apartment building next to St. Ferdinand Church. According to ABC 7 Chicago, three civilians, two men and a woman, were taken to the Loyola University Medical Center by ambulance for burns and other critical injuries. It's there where one of the victims, who officials have yet to publicly identify, died. The firefighter who was hurt battling the fire suffered severe burns to his throat and had to be intubated. 

CBS Chicago reported the firefighter was in critical condition and had just marked his one-year anniversary with the Chicago Fire Department. Fire investigators continue to work to try to determine how the fire started. 

According to data from the National Fire Protection Association, between 2015 and 2019, there were an average more than 346,000 house fires each year, which resulted in 2,620 civilian fatalities and $7.3 billion in property damage per year. The organization also noted the number one cause for home fire deaths was smoking inside, while the number one cause of home fires and house fires that resulted in injury was cooking.