Rectory Of Near West Side Church Damaged After Fire
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago firefighters were on the scene of a 150-year-old church on the Near West Side after a fire was reported in the church's rectory Sunday morning.
According to the Chicago Fire Department, the fire started in an incinerator chute on the lower level of the the rectory of Notre Dame de Chicago Catholic Church in the 1300 block of West Harrison. The fire then traveled to the upper floor.
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Religious studies teacher Marcia Travlino had just dismissed her Sunday school class when her father, Russell Kern, had said her classroom was filled with smoke.
"It was a matter of seconds he said black smoke was just throughout the entire second floor," she said.
"I said, 'Get out of here," Kern said. "This thing is filling up with smoke too fast. Somebody's going to die up here.'
"Everybody just left and said, 'Get on the elevator.'
"I said, 'Stay out of the elevator. That's the worst place to go during a fire. You ought to have enough common sense to know that.' So we came down and this retired policeman from New York City helped me down the stairs because I have problems walking."
A priest at the church said the rectory had sustained thousands of dollars in damage but the church itself was undamaged. No injuries were reported.
