Two people were hurt, including a Chicago police sergeant, and 23 people were displaced after a fire in Gresham early Friday, authorities said.
The fire broke out in the 7900 block of South Justine Street about 2:10 a.m., a Chicago Fire Department spokesman said.
One person was taken to Holy Cross Hospital in fair-to-serious condition. The sergent was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn for smoke inhalation; his condition was not immediately available.
In addition, 23 people were displaced from the building due to damage from the fire. Several of those affected were small children, according to neighbors. Lavette Mosely was waiting on a nearby bench with two of her neighbors after the fire, waiting to see who could get back in and when.
The blaze started on the second floor, she said. Her daughter woke her up and told her the building was on fire. She didn't see much other than smoke and flames, she said.
"It was scary, all that fire," said her neighbor, Dorothy Powers.
Powers' unit didn't sustain much damage, but Mosely was told she and her children likely would have to find someplace else to stay for a while.
But she was determined that she wouldn't be out for long.
"I'm going back in my place," she said.