5 Injured As Park Ridge Fire Leaves 36-Unit Building Uninhabitable

PARK RIDGE, IL — Five people were injured and dozens have been displaced by a fire that tore through a Park Ridge condo complex Tuesday night, fire officials said.

Firefighters were dispatched to the 36-unit Bristol Court Condominiums in the 200 block of Thames Parkway shortly before 11 p.m., according to the Park Ridge Fire Department.

They arrived to find heavy fire blowing out of top-floor window and extending onto the building's roof, where fire officials said it spread quickly through a void space.

Fire crews had also gotten word that there were multiple people trapped on the same floor as the fire, officials said.

The first arriving firefighters headed up to rescue the trapped residents while their ladder truck began to douse the fire with water from outside.

Four residents were taken to an area hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening, according to fire officials. One firefighter was also taken to hospital with an injury but had been treated and released by mid-morning Wednesday.

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The fire was extinguished around 3:30 a.m. with assistance from about 20 fire departments. Fire officials said there was no immediate estimate for the amount of damage, but the entire building has been left uninhabitable. The Red Cross was on hand to assist the more than 100 residents who have been displayed.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Park Ridge fire investigators, investigators from the regional mutual aid system and the state fire marshal's office, but it appears to have been begun accidentally.