Chatham, Chicago fire today: Several families displaced by apartment fire at South Champlain Avenue and East 80th Street

CHICAGO (WLS) — Before the noise of glass breaking on Saturday afternoon, Sheila Epps heard her kids.

“Like, ‘Mom! Mom! Mom!’ And, I’m like, ‘What?’ They were like, ‘It’s a fire!'” Epps said.

That yelling led her to the thick black smoke coming from outside, near the back of her apartment.

“So, I stuck my head out, and I seen there were flames coming from the third floor. And, I’m like, ‘How? Ain’t no one staying up there?’ So, my super instincts kicked in, grabbed the kids and get out,” Epps said.

Soon, several families would be out of their homes, watching as a fast-moving fire burned through several units on the second and third floor of the apartment building at South Champlain Avenue and East 80th Street in Chicago’s Chatham neighborhood.

“The community neighbors, they were so helpful. They brought out covers, they brought out coats, they brought shoes and clothing because we didn’t have any. This is not my coat. I came out just like this,” Epps said.

As people stayed warm on a bus, Chicago fire officials said Family Services and the Red Cross plan to assist 11 adults and 11 children who were displaced.

“I lost everything prior, before I moved here, so me moving here was, like, a fresh start,” Epps said. “So now, we’re with nothing. The only thing I have is this car to my name. I don’t have anything. All of my clothing, my IDs, all of my valuable information – everything is in that household.”

ABC7 is told everyone was able to make it out. No one was injured.

“Recently, was just down and me getting back on my feet. I found me another place to this. So, it’s like, my world just crumbled,” Epps said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.