VIDEO: Apartment fire injures at least one woman at the seven-story Village on the Park Apartments on Valley Lake Drive, Schaumburg.
Schaumburg Fire Department responded about 5:41 a.m. Saturday to an activated fire alarm at Village on the Park Apartments, 1234 Valley Lake Drive. Immediately after the alarm sounded firefighters received a report that flames were showing on the courtyard side — the rear of the building. When firefighters arrived, no flames or smoke were showing at the front of the building.
Rescuers received a report that a woman was trapped in a stairwell and that a woman was trapped in a fourth floor apartment.
Schaumburg police rescued the woman in the stairwell. The woman that was reported in the apartment turned out to have been the same woman that was rescued in the stairwell. The woman, in her 80’s, had burns to her chest, and was transported Loyola University Medical Center after originally being transported by Schaumburg Fire Department firefighter/paramedics to St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates.
Schaumburg firefighters checking a 360 view of the building reported fire out the window of an apartment on the west side of the north wing of the building.
A second alarm was called for additional mutual aid assistance from area fire departments.
Schaumburg firefighters made an interior attack with high rise packs and reported they were fighting a fire in the bedroom of a fourth floor apartment. The fire was reported extinguished about 6:12 a.m. Roselle firefighter/paramedics setup a rehab/emergency medical services station below the fire floor on the second floor. Arlington Heights firefighter/paramedics stood by at the command center at the front of the building.
There was minimal smoke on the fire floor by about 6:32 a.m., and a Carol Stream squad crew was called to protect the apartment directly below the fire unit with salvage covers.
Schaumburg rescue squad firefighters rescued elderly people from upper floors that had still not evacuated on their own.
Firefighters from Arlington Heights, Bensenville, Buffalo Grove, Glenside, Hoffman Estates, Inverness/Palatine-Rural, Itasca, Mount Prospect, Palatine and Rolling Meadows also worked on fire suppression, rapid intervention teams, EMS and salvage.
The fire scene was complicated by a water main break at the south side of the building. A heavy flow of water was flowing into the first floor, and was also flowing northbound down the west curb of Valley Lake Drive. It appeared one fire hydrant was not usable on the southeast side of the building, but otherwise the water problem did not seem to cause problems with fire suppression.
The entire building was closed off to residents. The power was also cut to the building because of water entering an electric room of the building.
Displaced residents were temporarily placed in the clubhouse. The American Red Cross was working to find temporary housing for residents.
Developing …
Stay informed with news from The Cardinal’s Emergencies Behind the Scenes Facebook page — Facebook.com/CardinalEmergencies. Includes links to favorite public safety and emergency rescuers and product manufacturers and safety companies that have facebook pages. Submit your pictures or just stay up-to-date on with fire, rescue, EMS and police photo galleries. Please add your public safety photo to the wall album — go direct to the Arlington Cardinal Emergencies Behind the Scenes photos. For a list of all of The Cardinal Facebook fan pages, go to Arlingtoncardinal.com/about/facebook …
