Police and fire respond to Glenwood Avenue house fire

At approximately 12:30 p.m. Oct. 25, a fire was reported at 6318 N. Glenwood Ave. in Rogers Park. Chicago police and fire were dispatched and responded to the scene.

Police and fire crews blocked off North Glenwood Avenue as firefighters worked to extinguish the fire in the home’s attic. Smoke emanated from the top floor of the home and surrounded the air while crowds gathered on the street. 

Police officer Joseph Lisciandrello said the situation is currently being cited as an electrical fire, but the incident remains under investigation.

First-year biology major Addie Worman said she was on a walk when she smelled smoke and noticed it coming from the house. 

“We saw [the homeowner] and he was pressure washing the side of his house,” Worman said. “We said, ‘Sir there’s a lot of smoke coming out of your house, is everything ok?’ and he basically said, ‘The fire’s inside the walls and I have it covered.’”

Concerned by the situation, Worman said she dialed 911 along with a resident who lived next door.

Truck driver Ken Wanlass, 54, lives four streets away from the home. He said he saw the alert on a fire scanner app while shopping at Green Element Resale on North Broadway Avenue. He decided to head to the scene to observe.

“It looked like the fire was coming from the attic,” Wanlass said.

Wanlass pointed to who he assumed the homeowner was, who was sitting in the front yard. The individual was later escorted into a police vehicle at around 12:45 p.m.

Entrepreneur Xavier Clairston, 40, lives a few houses down on North Glenwood Avenue. They said they were out to lunch when a friend mentioned smelling smoke.

“We walked out, and we saw a small group of people standing around, and I look over and see smoke coming from the house,” Clairston said.

Loyola graduate student Lili Gayton, 22, said the house has been “consistently a problem” within the neighborhood.

“I think there’s a lot of mental health problems — they fly a Nazi flag behind their house and I stopped walking past it once I saw that,” Gayton said.

This is a developing story.