Chicago high-rise building fire leaves 7 hospitalized, including baby in criticial condition

• Seven people, including a baby in critical condition, were hospitalized following a fire in a Chicago high-rise building on Wednesday afternoon.
• Firefighters conducted ladder rescues outside the building as occupants hung out of windows.
• The fire reportedly started in a kitchen on the second floor of the 14-story building in the South Shore neighborhood.

Seven people were hospitalized, including a baby in critical condition, after a fire Wednesday afternoon in a Chicago high-rise building, fire officials said.

Seven people, including the baby, were rushed to area hospitals, Chicago Fire Department First District Chief Jim McDonough said at a news conference.

Four other children were taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in good and fair conditions, fire officials said.

CHICAGO FIREFIGHTERS HOSPITALIZED AFTER BATTLING HOUSE FIRE NEAR AIRPORT

One person jumped from a fourth-floor window and was hospitalized in fair condition, officials said. A seventh person was taken to Trinity Hospital in good condition.

Firefighters also performed ladder rescues on the outside of the building while people hung out of windows.

CHICAGO FIREFIGHTER MAKES ‘ULTIMATE SACRIFICE,’ FOURTH LINE OF DUTY LOSS FOR DEPARTMENT THIS YEAR

Firefighters were called just before 4 p.m. to the blaze in a 1920s-era high-rise in the South Shore neighborhood. The fire started in a kitchen in a unit on the second floor of the 14-story building, McDonough said.

There was heavy smoke from the second floor on up, McDonough said.