Evanston Firefighters Revive Woman Amid Apartment Building Blaze

EVANSTON, IL — Evanston firefighters resuscitated a woman after finding her unresponsive in her burning apartment Thursday, fire officials said.

Fire crews were dispatched to a fire in a four-story apartment building in the 300 block of Dempster Street at 1:07 p.m., arriving four minutes later, according to Deputy Chief Kim Kull.

Some residents had begun evacuating when the building's fire alarms began sounding, Kull said. Others sheltered in place, as an automatic sprinkler system helped keep the blaze at bay.

Upstairs, firefighters found a middle-aged woman inside the unit where the fire began, according to the deputy chief. The woman was not breathing and had no pulse.

"[She] was brought down from the third floor [and] was successfully revived by our crews," Kull said. "They've done a wonderful job and were able to regain pulses and her respiratory rate."

Evanston fire crews were able to extinguish the blaze within 10 minutes of their arrival, Kull said.

The woman found in the burning apartment was taken to the intensive care unit of a local hospital. No firefighters or other residents were injured.

A mutual aid alarm was activated, and fire departments from Northfield, Winnetka, Wilmette and Skokie helped cover the city during the incident.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.