More than a week after two fires damaged six homes and displaced nine residents in Chicago Heights, fire victims are still seeking answers about a malfunctioning hydrant that delayed efforts to extinguish the flames.
Fire crews experienced a “momentary delay” while battling the fire on Lowe Avenue because they had to run additional hose lines to access a nearby hydrant, according to a statement from the mayor’s office that said six of the seven area hydrants were fully operational.
Fire Chief Wendell Thomas told reporters Oct. 23 there was a water supply issue during the response to a second fire as the initial blaze spread.
The initial fire broke out Oct. 22 in an abandoned house undergoing construction on Lowe Avenue, officials said, and embers rapidly spread to two neighboring homes. About 25 minutes later on the other side of the street, another abandoned house, next to James Boyd’s home on Lowe Avenue, started on fire, according to the city’s timeline of events.
This fire quickly spread to Boyd’s home and his neighbor Alicia Campbell’s, leaving them fully engulfed in flames.
Boyd was asleep with his wife when a neighbor urgently knocked on their door to warn them about a fire across the street from his home Oct. 22. When he came outside, Boyd said crews were already battling the blaze, which had not yet reached his home.
While officials are still investigating whether the two fires are connected, residents suspect high winds carried the embers to the vacant home next to Boyd’s, igniting older pine trees in the front yard.
Five of these homes were fully engulfed and destroyed, while damage to the sixth was undetermined, officials said.
Boyd and Campbell said they believe their homes might have been saved if crews had access to working fire hydrants to immediately extinguish the flames.
“We had to all stand and watch that fire spread slowly to our house, destroy our house and then spread to the next door neighbor house and also destroy that house as well. And that is when the water came, but by that time, the house was destroyed and no longer livable,” Boyd said. “So we been wanting some answers or at least a response.”
Boyd said the nonworking hydrant happened to be the one closest to his home, leading to critical delays as firefighters searched for another water source. Last week, other residents told the Southtown it took firefighters about 10 minutes to run additional hose lines to the next working hydrant.
When asked why the hydrant was not working, how often hydrants are monitored and the length of the delay in dousing the fire, city spokesperson David Ormsby said no information was being released outside of the city’s official statement.
Ormsby said more information will become available as the investigation proceeds. The fire is being investigated by the Illinois State Fire Marshall, officials said.
At a news conference Tuesday outside Boyd and Campbell’s homes, Boyd was one of several fire victims who said they are upset they haven’t gotten answers about the nonworking hydrant or more support from city leaders since they lost their homes.
“Me, along with my wife, my mother and others, we definitely are staying positive. However, there is still no reason why there was not a working fire hydrant on the corner of our house so our house would not be burnt down,” Boyd said. “It was just very traumatic to watch firefighters not do anything due to them stating that they had no water, and to just sit there and watch the fire spread throughout the block.”
Bethel Baptist Church and the Bethel Family Resource Center organized the news conference, and church leaders emphasized the need for a broader discussion on investing in underserved communities like Chicago Heights. According to footage of the event shared on Facebook, residents and church leaders pointed to failing infrastructure as a key factor in allowing the fire to spread.
The Bethel Resource Center provided clothing and food vouchers for affected families.
smoilanen@chicagotribune.com