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Fire in Chicago high-rise office building kills six
CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- Government workers trapped in a burning downtown office tower frantically dialed 911 as they tried to make their way through smoke-filled staircases and hallways, officials said. Hours later, 13 were found unconscious amid the smoke, six of them dead. The bodies weren't discovered until after the fire was brought under control Friday evening and firefighters started searching the 35-story Cook County administration building floor by floor, authorities said. Eight people remained hospitalized early Saturday, some in serious or critical condition. "I was scared for my life. I still am," said Marienne Branch, who works in the public defender's office on the 17th floor and escaped down a smoky stairwell with colleagues. It wasn't immediately clear what caused the fire, but workers on the 12th floor, housing secretary of state offices, said they first saw smoke coming from a storage room about 5 p.m. Fire Commissioner James Joyce said the people who died appeared to be from one stairwell around the 22nd floor, 10 stories above the source of the fire. Most of the injured were found in the stairways and hallways from the 16th to the 22nd floors, he said. "Searching for all those people, at the same time fighting the fire, is more complicated than it looks from the outside," Joyce said. The response to the fire snarled rush-hour traffic in the Loop and forced subway commuters to bypass underground tunnels. Commuters could see flames and smoke pouring from the building's 12th-story windows. Joyce said the building had an alarm system but no sprinklers above the first floor. It holds as many as 2,500 people during business hours but wasn't full when the fire started at the close of the business day. The names of the victims hadn't been released by the Cook County Medical Examiner's office early Saturday, but Cook County Public Guardian Patrick Murphy said at least three of his employees died in the fire. He identified them as Maureen McDonald, who worked with the state's elderly wards; Sara White Chapman, 38, an attorney; and John Slater III, who represented children in divorce cases. "Friday night at 5 o'clock and they're all still there working," Murphy told the Chicago Sun-Times. "That shows you. Their lives are dedicated to protecting the young and the elderly." Staff in his 18th-floor office had used the elevator to evacuate one attorney who is quadriplegic and uses a wheelchair, he said. Firefighters escorted some workers down stairways and evacuated a daycare center, fire officials said. Joyce said a comprehensive search of the building was completed about five hours after the fire was first reported. Victoria Haynes, 50, who works in the public defender's office, said the practice from past fire drills helped her and her colleagues evacuate safely. "Things were proceeding orderly as they went down the stairwell," she said. Cook County State's Attorney Richard Devine and one group of co-workers was forced back by the smoke in the stairways; they called fire officials and were directed to another corner of the building. He said they found locked doors on several floors as they tried to work their way down the stairwell. In the confusion, Devine said one of his prosecutors was separated from the group and was later hospitalized. "At some point, the smoke was so bad for him that he passed out. I think that is the last thing he remembers," Devine said. "But fortunately ... it looks like he's going to be OK." The structure was known as the Brunswick Building when it was built in 1965. The county bought it in 1996 for nearly $40 million. Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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