Chicago man says surveillance video may hold clue in mysterious Edgewater apartment fire
CHICAGO - A Chicago man who lost his home and nearly everything he owned in a devastating Edgewater apartment fire says newly recovered surveillance video may provide a clue about what happened before the fire started.
Mysterious Edgewater fire
The backstory:
The fire happened just before 6 a.m. June 26 at the Wyndham Apartments in Edgewater. Firefighters responded to heavy smoke coming from the fifth floor.
One person jumped from a fifth-floor window to escape the flames.
The resident of that 5th floor unit, Luke Swanson, says he recently recovered surveillance footage from inside his apartment. He says the video appears to show a friend, who was staying with him for the weekend- inside the unit shortly before the fire.
What they're saying:
Swanson believes the footage shows his friend intentionally igniting something inside the apartment. That person, he says, is the same friend who later jumped from the fifth floor to escape the fire.
But Swanson acknowledges he cannot say for certain how the fire started.
"I have no idea how he actually started the fire, but all I know is one minute, he’s standing in front of my couch and the next minute he’s in my closet and it’s on fire. I feel betrayed, of course, but I don’t know. There’s a lot of complicated feelings around there."
The surveillance timestamps provided by Swanson show his friend moving around the apartment in the minutes before smoke fills the room.
In one portion of the video, Swanson says the friend is seen near an air conditioner. Later, a bright light appears to come from the closet area before the room fills with smoke.
Swanson says the images are difficult to watch and have raised new questions about what happened inside his home.
Chicago police have not confirmed Swanson’s interpretation of the footage or said the video shows someone intentionally starting the fire.
What's next:
Police told FOX 32 the fire remains under investigation. No one has been charged.
Swanson says he wants investigators to review the footage as they continue looking into the cause of the fire.
The Source: The information in this report came from Chicago police, surveillance video provided by Edgewater resident Luke Swanson, Swanson’s account of the June 26 apartment fire, and Fox Chicago reporting.