Authorities identify man killed in Near West Side fire

A man killed in an extra-alarm fire over the weekend in a high-rise building on the Near West Side was identified Wednesday morning.

About 11:20 p.m. Saturday, firefighters responded to the blaze on the 11th floor of the 21-story building in the 300 block of South Damen, according to Fire Media Affairs.

“Upon confirmation of the fire in that unit on the 11th floor, we escalated to a 2-11 alarm due to the number of occupants in the building at this time of day and due to the smoke conditions on the 11th floor,” Chicago Fire District Chief Jerry Knapp told reporters at the scene.

Amos Lewis, 78, was found in that unit and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a few minutes after midnight on Sunday, according to fire officials and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Lewis, who lived in the building, was on oxygen at the time of the fire. No one else was injured.

The blaze was contained to one apartment on the 11th floor, but other tenants on the 11th floor were displaced when their units were rendered uninhabitable, fire officials said. The city’s Department of Human Services was called to the scene to assist with housing.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.