13-year-old boy, police officer hurt in Zion fire

A 13-year-old boy was burned and a Zion police officer treated for smoke inhalation Monday after an apartment caught fire in the north suburb.

Crews were were called about 9:30 p.m. to the 1700 block of Joppa Avenue and found the boy with burns, according to a statement from the Zion Fire Department. He was taken to Vista Medical Center in an unknown condition.

Firefighters were called from as far as Wisconsin to battle the “stubborn, smokey fire,” which took more than three hours to put out, the department said.

A Zion police officer inhaled smoke while checking adjacent apartments and was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Crews shut off water to the apartment building to prevent a leak, displacing seven families, the department said.

Police initially responded to the scene for a call of gunfire and a victim, but they arrived and only found the burned child, the department said. Zion police did not immediately reply to a message seeking details.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, the department said in its release.