Firefighters injured in Austin blaze in good condition

CHICAGO (SUN TIMES MEDIA WIRE) - Four firefighters were injured in a blaze Sunday afternoon in the West Side Austin neighborhood.

A Mayday distress signal was used at the fire at 4921 W. Potomac, which was extinguished by 12:37 p.m., according to Fire Media Affairs. The fire extended to the building next door at 4923 W. Potomac.

Four firefighters were taken to Stroger Hospital, according to Fire Media.

The firefighters — two men their 50s, one 30-year-old man and one man in his mid-40s — all suffered heat and smoke-related injuries, including first- and second-degree burns, according to Fire Media. One was released Sunday evening and the other three were listed in good condition.

Berita Conley lives in the building with four family members, she told reporters at the scene. She was alerted to the fire by a neighbor who knocked on her door.

“I went out to my back porch and I seen black clouds. I ran and started screaming, grabbed my cats and dog,” Conley said. Her cats ran back inside and all five perished in the blaze.

Conley was able to get her two grandchildren, daughter, husband and dog out of the building.

“If the neighbor wouldn’t have knocked on the door, been banging and hollering, we would have all been dead in there,” Conley said.

No civilians were hospitalized, according to Fire Media. Six people were displaced from the home.

The fire remains under investigation as of Sunday afternoon.