Fire Officials: Man, 60, Killed In Austin Fire
(STMW) -- A man was killed Thursday evening in a fire at a West Side Austin neighborhood apartment building.
The fire started just before 5:25 p.m. in a two-story, multi-unit apartment building in the 500 block of South Lavergne Avenue, Fire Media Affairs spokesman Joe Roccasalva said.
Albert Lawson Jr., 62, was found dead in a bedroom of the unit where the fire started, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
Lawson Jr., a resident of the apartment, was pronounced dead after the fire was struck out, a representative for the medical examiner's office said.
He appeared to have been handicapped, as officials found a walker and a cane in the room with him, Roccasalva said.
The fire did not spread beyond that unit, Roccasalva said.
The American Red Cross said responders assisted residents there, though officials could not say how many people may have been displaced.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation Friday morning.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
