Fire damages two-unit apartment building in Joliet

Joliet police and the Joliet Fire Department arson team are investigating a fire that damaged two residences Wednesday evening.

Joliet police officers and firefighters at around 5 p.m. responded to the 26 Union Street for a report of a structure fire.

Fire crews found fire blowing out the front of a two-unit apartment, the Joliet Fire Department said.

Residents were reported to be trapped on the second floor and fire crews entered from the second-floor windows and conducted a search. It was later found that everyone made it out of the building, the fire department said.

The residents said that two pets remained in one of the homes. “We later learned that the two pets succumbed to the fire. The tenant of the residence where the fire started was not home,” police said.

The tenant of the other residence was home with his family when they smelled smoke and realized the attached unit was on fire, police said.

The scene was declared under control at 5:30 p.m., the fire department said. No one was injured.

The Red Cross was contacted and is assisting the families affected by the fire, police said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.