The Chicago Tribune has an article about a fire on the far south side that injured eight, including two firefighters.

It took a minute for the man standing on the front porch of the West Pullman home to realize what was going on when his neighbors started yelling to him that his house in the 11600 block of South Michigan was burning … eight people, including a two firefighters and a police officer, were injured Tuesday evening.

Seeing two boys in the upstairs windows, [police] officers shouted instructions to break the windows and jump into their arms, Police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro said. It was a team effort, with … other people nearby helping direct the boys, who are 15 and 8 years old, to a side window. The officers and neighbors then prepared to catch the boys and urged them to jump. One of the officers suffered a minor injury catching one of the boys, police said.

The group of neighbors and officers then tried to run upstairs to rescue a man trapped inside but were blocked by thick smoke …

Fire crews arrived soon and found a police officer attempting to force her way inside the building to reach whoever was trapped inside, Deputy Chicago Fire Cmsr. John McNicholas said. Seeing people fleeing the building and hearing reports of people trapped, firefighters called an emergency medical services plan 1 for the fire, sending at least six ambulances to the scene.

With a man still trapped on the second floor, firefighters swiftly made entry.  Firefighters found heavy smoke and fire in the home, and a firefighter attempting to reach the second floor was pushed back by the heat, causing him to fall down the stairs, McNicholas said.  The trapped man was rescued from the rear of the second floor, he said.

The man was taken in serious-to-critical condition to Advocate Trinity Hospital, officials said. Four other people were taken in good-to-fair condition to Roseland Community Hospital, Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said.

The firefighter who fell and another injured firefighter were both taken to hospitals as well. Neither firefighter’s injuries were believed to be life-threatening. The injured police officer was taken to Metro South Medical Center in Blue Island in good condition, Langford said.

thanks Dan