Firefighter Michael Agostinelli was moonlighting on the set of a new TV show about a Chicago trauma center when he smelled smoke and noticed a light haze rising from the back of a house a few doors down in Kenwood. "I knew it wasn't part of the scene," said Agostinelli, who was working as a medic for the cast and crew on the set of the "Chicago Med" show. "That wasn't in the, uh, plan for the day."
Agostinelli said he walked down to the home, a two-story wood-frame house at 4825 S. Kimbark Ave., and alerted the family.
"I saw the residents, I told them I think their roof is on fire, went in, made sure everyone was out of the building then called 911," said Agostinelli, who's assigned to the firehouse of Engine 117, Tower Ladder 14 in the Austin neighborhood. Agostinelli checked the home, and when fire crews arrived 3 minutes later, pointed them toward where he'd spotted it, he and fire District 1 Chief Timothy Sampey said as fire crews detached their hoses and dragged them to their fire rigs.
"Just doing my job, doing what I was trained to do," he said. "Nothing major, you know, just making a phone call, making sure everybody's out."
The fire had reached the attic when crews arrived, and a 2-11 alarm was called to get more equipment there, according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford. The size of the 19th century frame house made it possible that the fire would spread to surrounding frame homes and that also factored into the decision to call the extra alarm, Sampey said.