With more than 600 of Chicago’s older residential high-rises not fully protected with fire sprinklers, fires in those buildings can be tragic and devastating. With each passing fire, it becomes further evident that the cost to retrofit fire sprinklers in the buildings is far less than the cost of the fires and resulting aftermath. These fires often present increased probability of injuries and deaths of residents and firefighters, millions of dollars in property loss, and the potential for hundreds of people displaced. The fatal Harper Square Cooperative fire on January 25, 2023, which was the motive for developing the timeline below, is perhaps one of the greatest examples of the tremendous long-term toll of an unsprinklered high-rise fire.

2025

Photos / images of the building were either taken during the fire or after the fire (from various sources).

March 4

6900 S. Crandon Avenue

6900 Crandon Apartments

  • Fire broke on 8th floor of 151-unit high-rise for seniors and disabled residents

  • 3 residents injured

  • View Media Story >

February 5

500 E. 33rd Street

Lake Meadows Apartments

January 13

150 S. Campbell Avenue

CHA Alfreda Barnett Duster Apartments

  • 11th floor fire

January 2

1030 N. State Street

Newberry Plaza Condominiums

  • 15th floor fire

  • 2 injured (1 seriously)

2024: 8 Fires

Photos / images of the building were either taken during the fire or after the fire (from various sources).

November 24

4550 N. Clarendon Avenue

Lake View Towers

October 11

6166 N. Sheridan Road

The Duplex Tower Apartments

  • Fire on the 18th floor

September 8

5441 N. East River Road

The Pavilion Apartments

  • Fire on 7th floor

  • 2nd fire in building in 2024

March 10

9177 S. South Chicago Avenue

CHA Mahalia Jackson Apartments

  • Eighth-floor fire on couch where two residents were sleeping; caused by careless use of smoking materials

  • 1 died, 1 critically injured

February 21

7144 S. Jefferey Boulevard

Jeffery Cyril Apartments

  • Unattended cooking fire in 2nd floor kitchen

  • Residents rescued by ladder from windows

  • 8 hospitalized (included one infant in critical condition)

January 22

150 S. Campbell Avenue

CHA Alfreda Barnett Duster Apartments

  • Fire on 7th floor

January 5

5200 S. Blackstone

The Blackwood Apartments

  • Fire on 10th floor

  • 1 resident injured

January 3

5441 N. East River Road

The Pavilion Apartments

  • Fire on 6th floor

2023: 17 Fires

Photos of the buildings were taken during or after the fire.

The photos of the boarded-up buildings were taken January 15, 2024.

December 29

1020 W. Foster Avenue / 5200 N. Sheridan Road

The Edison Apartments
Residents trapped and rescued by ladder. Smoke alarm system did not operate.

  • Fire on 6th floor

  • 2 residents critically injured

  • Injured resident on fire floor stated that no alarms were sounding

  • View Media Story >

December 26

6253 S. Michigan Avenue

Southland Village Apartments

December 10

6430 S. Stony Island Avenue

Island Terrace Apartments

December 8

3033 N. Sheridan Road

3033 Sheridan Tower Condominiums

November 6

3515 S. Cottage Grove Avenue

Lake Grove Village Apartments

October 9

3110 N. Sheridan Road

October 4

6401 S. Yale Avenue

CHA Vivian Carter Apartments

September 23

3550 S. Rhodes Avenue

Lawless Gardens Apartments

  • Fire on 10th floor

  • Across the parking lot from previous fire at 3620 S. Rhodes Avenue

  • View Media Story >

September 10

3620 S. Rhodes Avenue

Lawless Gardens Apartments

August 18

421 W. Melrose Street

The Eddystone

July 31

7100 S. South Shore Drive

7100 South Shore Apartments

  • Fire on 14th floor

  • Same building had a fire that injured a resident in 2017.

  • View Media Story >

June 11

999 N. Lake Shore Drive

May 4

6730 S. South Shore Drive

Lakefront Place

  • Fire on 10th floor of 15-story building

  • Same building had a two-fatality fire in 2013.

  • View Media Story >

April 12

6151 N. Winthrop Avenue

Winthrop Tower

April 8

6430 S. Stony Island Drive

Island Terrace Apartments

April 5

1212 N. Lake Shore Drive

  • Fire on 27th floor

  • 1 firefighter death – Chicago Fire Lieutenant Jan Tchoryk collapsed climbing the stairs (as elevators were shut down) and was unable to be revived

  • Other firefighters injured and 3 others injuries reported

  • View Press Release >

  • View Media Story >

January 25

4850 S. Lake Park Avenue

Harper Square Cooperative

  • Fire on 15th floor of 25-story Kenwood neighborhood high-rise spread quickly on exterior of building and extended vertically to the 24th floor

  • 1 resident death

  • 8 residents injured, 1 firefighter injured

  • 143 units deemed uninhabitable

  • 200+ residents still displaced one year later

  • Residents from 80 units still displaced at two-year anniversary of fire

  • View Press Release >

  • View Media Story >