An explosion rocked a vacant house in Dolton Sunday afternoon, sparking a two-alarm fire that spread to the homes on both sides, fire officials said.

By the time firefighters arrived on scene at 2:23 p.m., three homes on the 300 block of Riverside Drive were ablaze, Dolton Fire Chief Pete McCain said.

The home where the explosion occurred, 324 Riverside Drive, is vacant — neighbors said its previous occupant abandoned it about a week ago — but the homes on either side were occupied when the fire started.

A woman who lives alone in one of the adjacent homes evacuated after calling 911, and the three residents in the other adjacent home also got out before firefighters arrived on scene, McCain said. No one was injured in the blaze, but two of the homes sustained extensive damage, he said.

"You heard a boom, and my house shook," said Janice Foster, who lives at the corner of Riverside and Princeton Avenue, one door down from the affected homes.

The fire did not touch Foster's home, but she came outside to assist neighbors once she heard the explosion and saw the flames.

"You could see smoke, fire," she said. "It was really scary. Just standing there watching it and waiting on help to arrive."

Foster and her next door neighbor, Rosilene Roper, said the fire department's response time was "inadequate."

"It was a long time. I don't know how long it was, but it was a long time," said Roper, who called 911 and evacuated her home before it caught fire.

Blue Island cops injured pursuing alleged car thieves Frank Vaisvilas

Two Blue Island police officers were injured early Saturday morning after crashing into a vehicle allegedly being driven by armed robbers, police said.

The incident began at about 12:45 a.m. when three suspects stole a black Infinity at gunpoint in the 1400 block of West 127th Street in Calumet...

Two Blue Island police officers were injured early Saturday morning after crashing into a vehicle allegedly being driven by armed robbers, police said.

The incident began at about 12:45 a.m. when three suspects stole a black Infinity at gunpoint in the 1400 block of West 127th Street in Calumet...

(Frank Vaisvilas)

"I got out of the house, I had to put on some clothes, and I came out and I moved down there and I watched the house catch on fire, and then once it caught on fire it just went up. And then they finally pulled up."

McCain said crews from Dolton, Riverdale and South Holland arrived on scene within six minutes of the initial 911 call, which is "pretty good for the west side of town."

Crews from Calumet City, Calumet Park, Markham and Phoenix later joined them, for a total of approximately 75 firefighters, he said. They had the blaze under control within about 45 minutes, he said.

By the time the fire was extinguished, the vacant home had been reduced to rubble and Roper's home had sustained "extensive damage, McCain said. The other affected home sustained only minor damage on one side, and is still habitable, he said.

McCain attributed any delay in response to the volume of 911 calls coming in to the dispatch center — neighbors estimated dozens of people called in the fire.

"The dispatch must have gotten tied up with a bunch of 911 calls and there may have been a delay in them hitting the button to page us out to go to the call," he said. "I'm assuming that they were getting bombarded."

Still, McCain said, "They're well within their NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) compliance as far as response times."

Roper, who had lived in the home for more than 30 years, will now be forced to stay with family, as her residence is uninhabitable.

"Everything is gone," she said, seated on a chair across the street from her smoking home. "All the contents are gone. I don't know about the rebuilding."

The cause of the explosion and fire is under investigation by South Suburban MABAS Division 24, but it does not appear to be suspicious, McCain said.

zkoeske@tribpub.com

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