A fire at an apartment building in Oak Park Wednesday night left one person in critical condition at an area hospital and displaced about a dozen residents, with officials saying the incident could have been caused by a natural gas explosion.
Village of Oak Park spokesman Dan Yopchick told Pioneer Press in an email that around 5 p.m. Wednesday, the fire department responded to a call of a building on fire in the200 block of South Maple Avenue.
“A section of wall collapsed and a box alarm was activated, bringing in mutual aid from approximately 10 other jurisdictions,” he stated in the email. “The preliminary indication is that the incident began via natural gas explosion.”
Yopchick said a male victim was located in the blaze and was transported to Loyola University Medical Center in nearby Maywood. As of 9 p.m. Wednesday, the male was listed in critical condition, the village spokesman said.
No identifying information about the victim was provided, including his age and confirmation of his residency in the affected building.
Yochick said the building, at 221 S. Maple Ave., includes six units “and all were deemed uninhabitable, displacing approximately 12 residents.”
He explained that the American Red Cross was on scene Wednesday night providing assistance.
Investigators, including the State Fire Marshal, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Oak Park Fire Department are scheduled to be at the scene Thursday morning to further look into the cause of the fire and explosion.
