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Fires take two lives

Arson suspected on Pine Grove

by David Harrell News Editor

In the past week, three fires have claimed two lives, and injured and displaced several other people. The first fire was reported at about 9:40 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 19, at 3930 N. Pine Grove Ave, a 30-story high-rise. Gregory Galvez, 71, was found unresponsive on the fifth floor of the building and was pronounced dead at 10:34 a.m. The cause of death was ruled smoke inhalation, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office. The fire broke out in a storage locker in the basement, sending smoke throughout the building. A 59-year-old woman was treated for smoke inhalation, cuts and abrasions. An 80-year-old woman made it down 20 floors and escaped. And an 88-year-old woman, immobilized due to a hip fracture, was carried down 15 flights of stairs, police said. It was unclear whether she was rescued by a firefighter or a neighbor. The Fire Department’s Office of Fire Investigation has determined that the fire was an arson. The Chicago Police Department Bomb and Arson Section was investigating the case as a homicide.

A swastika and anti-Semitic and anti-gay messages found scrawled near the origin of the fire have prompted authorities to also investigate the fire as a hate crime. Fires had previously occurred in the same building at 7 a.m. that morning, and also last December 29. Residents were evacuated, but allowed to return to their apartments after the fire was struck out. At about 10 a.m. that same morning a fire broke out on the second floor of a three-story apartment building at 4031 N. Broadway spreading quickly to the third floor. It affected six apartments and displaced about 30 residents. There were no injuries, and according to the Fire Department, arson is not suspected. A woman died and three residents were injured in a third fire that began at 12:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 21, in an apartment on the 14th floor at 260 E. Chestnut St. downtown. Twenty-five residents went to the rooftop to escape the flames and smoke. When

firemen broke down the door, fire shot out the door and scorched the hallway, injuring eight firefighters, authorities said. Firefighters suffered burns to the face, legs and arms. Four were taken to hospitals in serious condition. Fire Department and police are investigating the cause of the fire.