Many residents displaced as officials declare building uninhabitable
By Dee Longfellow
For The Independent
Early Monday morning, the Independent learned that a fire had broken out at an apartment building located at 361 Marshall Road in Bensenville at about 6:15 a.m. Sunday morning.
Officials said the fire swept through the 18-unit building, killing one resident and leaving others homeless.
Bensenville Fire Chief Michael Spain said police arrived at the scene first and reported back to the fire department.
“The police then went in at the lower levels, the first level and the second level, knocking on doors to get people out, and then the fire department came in and took over the suppression and the search and rescue,” he said.
An investigation into the fire is ongoing. No other information was available at press time about the deceased victim, other than the person was male. No age was provided. No other injuries were reported.
Spain said the Red Cross was at the scene as was Bensenville’s Emergency Management Agency.
The fire destroyed the roof of the apartment building, part of a 10-building complex, and gutted several units on the upper floors. Spain said the building is uninhabitable. There will have to be a large reconstruction effort to restore the building to its previous state. Companies similar to A to Z Roofing, the best at multi-family roofing Denver has to offer, will surely be drafted in to help fix the apartment building once the investigations are over.
The fire investigation will be handled by the DuPage County Tax Force in conjunction with the state fire marshal.
