A late afternoon fire at Juniper Tower, an elderly-designated high-rise apartment building in Park Forest, sent one person to the hospital Monday and drew a heavy response from local fire and EMS crews. Officials said the blaze was contained to a single apartment on the 10th floor, and firefighters were able to knock it down without it spreading to other units. Authorities have not released the cause of the fire or an update on the person who was hospitalized.
According to NBC Chicago, the Park Forest Fire Department was called to Juniper Tower, 350 Juniper St., at about 4:20 p.m. Monday. Village police told the outlet that crews quickly extinguished the flames in the affected tenth-floor apartment. Aerial video from NBC Chicago's Sky 5 helicopter showed a large lineup of fire engines and ambulances around the building, and one person was taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation.
About Juniper Tower
Juniper Tower is an elderly-designated affordable housing high-rise operated by the Housing Authority of Cook County and includes roughly 106 apartments. The authority notes that the property has undergone recent rehabilitation work, including a new fire pump controller, elevator modernization, and other safety-focused upgrades, according to the Housing Authority of Cook County.
Response and investigation
Village police told NBC Chicago that investigators had not yet determined or released a cause of the fire. Officials also did not provide additional information about the hospitalized person or the extent of the damage by the time the outlet published its report.
Who lives here
The Housing Authority of Cook County lists Juniper Tower as an elderly-designated property with on-site services and easy access to nearby medical care, including St. James Hospital. That setup helps explain the swift EMS response noted in the report and highlights why emergency crews tend to prioritize rapid medical checks and careful evacuations when fires break out in senior-designated buildings.
