Three hurt in extra-alarm apartment fire in Niles

Three people were injured in an extra-alarm fire Friday morning in a north suburban Niles apartment.

Crews responded to a fire alarm and multiple calls of an apartment fire in the 9700 block of Dee Road at 8:30 a.m., Niles Fire Chief Steve Borkowski told a reporter at the scene. Firefighters arrived to see flames and smoke coming out the windows, and the blaze was upgraded to an extra alarm.

Two people were trapped in a laundry room, but a local worker with a cherry picker was able to reach them and bring them down safely, Borkowski said. Those two and a third person were transported to a hospital.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by Niles fire officials and the state Fire Marshal’s office, according to Borkowski.