2 Chicago firefighters among 4 injured in massive Back of the Yards blaze; 14 residents displaced

CHICAGO - Four people were injured, including two firefighters, and 14 residents were displaced after a massive house fire spread to two neighboring buildings Thursday morning on the city's Southwest Side.

What we know:

Firefighters responded to a large fire at a home on Laflin Street near 45th Street in the Back of the Yards neighborhood.

The fire spread from the original home to two neighboring buildings before crews were able to bring it under control around 6:45 a.m.

Two civilians and two firefighters were taken to hospitals with minor injuries, and a total of 14 people were displaced.

Just under 100 firefighters responded to the scene. Fire officials credited them with preventing even greater damage.

"The crews here did a phenomenal job," a fire official said at the scene. "Their quick actions protected the exposure buildings from being complete losses, and again, if it wasn't for their quick action, we would have had a much bigger incident here."

What we don't know:

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

What's next:

Just after 7 a.m., fire officials said the scene would remain active for several more hours.

"There's still gonna be hot spots. We're gonna be here for several more hours because in the initial fire building, there was a collapse of the building. So we have fire in areas of the building that are difficult to reach. So we're gonna be here for awhile. There's extensive work still to be done."

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