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| A framed photo of Wrigley Field is seen through the burned-out window of a Boystown home Sunday. |
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| The twisted springs of a burned mattress (or two) lie beneath a Boystown apartment window Sunday morning. |
UPDATE: Chicago Police are saying the fire was caused by a homeless person who was trying to stay warm. Ahem.
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She awoke this morning to the sight of flames coming through her window and called 911. Somehow, someway, a mattress was set ablaze between her home and her neighbors. No one was injured.
The Boystown resident’s overnight horror is believed to have marked the return of Lake View’s serial arsonist, who had not been heard from in exactly one month—last striking with two fires on September 26, a block or so from this morning’s blaze.
Fire and police responded to this morning’s fire in the 900 block of Newport at 1:37AM. There, off of the alley, a mattress leaning against a yellow-sided home was set ablaze. Fueled by the flammable siding, flames raced to the top of the 4-story home.
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| A discarded mattress and box spring lie under the Red Line tracks at Newport, perhaps 100 yards from this morning’s fire. |
Initial fire crews immediately labeled the incident arson, although the fire marshal pulled back from that until investigators do their thing.
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| Melted siding droops. |
As with the two September 26 fires, this morning’s blaze seems to have been intentionally set adjacent to occupied homes, a deadly escalation of the fire bug’s operation.
Whoever is starting these fires surely has no trouble finding good fire-starting materials.
Under the Red Line tracks, less than 100 yards from this morning’s fire, a mattress and box spring lie stacked up next to trash receptacles. Just begging someone with the wrong intentions to carry them down the alley a bit and strike a match.
Bail Lowered
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| Flames raced to the top floor of the home. . |
