A Chicago firefighter was hospitalized after suffering critical burns in a floor collapse while battling a fast-moving apartment fire

CHICAGO — A Chicago firefighter was hospitalized after being injured in a collapse while battling a Far North Side fire.

Officials said the firefighter was hurt when the floor beneath him collapsed as crews worked to extinguish the blaze on March 16. He was taken to a local hospital in critical condition and is being treated for second- and third-degree burns, WGN reported.

| SURVEY: What Firefighters Want in 2026: Training

The fire began in the rear of a four-story apartment building at 1757 W. North Shore Ave., Chicago Fire Department Deputy District Chief Kelly Burns told the Chicago Sun Times.

Burns said firefighters arrived in less than 10 minutes and initially appeared to be gaining ground on the blaze before part of the first floor collapsed.

“We had one firefighter go through the floor. He was quickly rescued by the members of Squad 2, one of our heavy rescues in the city,” Burns said. “They had him out within, I’m going to say under a minute.”

The fire involved an eight-unit, three-story building with a basement, ABC 7 Chicago reported. What initially appeared to be a small fire in the rear was actually a heavy blaze extending the full height of the building, Burns said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

A fast-moving four-alarm blaze in a Flushing building left four people dead, including a child, injured multiple residents and firefighters

A Providence firefighter was seriously injured after a 10-foot fall while responding to a power outage that trapped residents in an elevator

March 17, 2026 08:41 AM

 · 

A Boston firefighter suffered cardiac arrest during a fire in Hyde Park

Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore, the first former EMT to lead the FDNY, reflects on the department’s uneasy 1996 merger with EMS

$50,000 in fire department grants and 350 pancake breakfast fundraiser kits will be awarded