Two separate fires occurred in Avondale within a 24-hour period last weekend, resulting in one fatality and sending another person to the hospital.
The first incident took place at 2:56 p.m. on Friday in a basement apartment located in the 3000 block of West George Street. According to a spokesperson for the Fire Department, a 74-year-old man died from burn injuries sustained during the fire. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, and authorities have not yet released the man’s identity.
On Saturday around 10 a.m., firefighters responded to another blaze in the 3000 block of North Davlin Court after receiving reports of a building on fire. A woman was hospitalized as a result of this incident, which also remains under investigation. Neighbors and residents told WGN that several apartments were damaged and five people were displaced by the fire.
In addition to these incidents, investigators are still looking into an earlier fire that happened behind Small Cheval restaurant at 2815 W. Armitage Ave. in Logan Square on January 11, 2026. This fire damaged both a residential building and the restaurant’s patio area, forcing Small Cheval to temporarily close. While there were no reported injuries, neighbors had to evacuate their homes shortly after midnight when the blaze broke out. The Fire Department has not provided any updates regarding this case as of this week, and representatives from Hogsalt—the company that owns Small Cheval—did not respond to inquiries about when the restaurant might reopen.
