An inferno tore through a nearly century-and-a-half old structure in Auburn Gresham, causing it to collapse and spread to an adjacent apartment building, leaving one man injured from smoke inhalation early Wednesday. Firefighters responded to the initial fire, already engulfing the building at 7706 S. Peoria St. around 9 a.m., according to a report by the Chicago Sun-Times.

The flames rapidly escalated to an extra-alarm blaze, prompting response teams to desperately try and extinguish them before more damage could ensue. The man injured was quickly transported to the hospital, his current state unknown. The fire also displaced two adults and two children, as the fire department confirmed. They managed to douse both blazes by 10 a.m., and are still to look into what sparked the conflagration.

According to a post from CFDMedia, the original structure was "totally involved upon arrival" and the building succumbed to the fire, ultimately collapsing. Firefighters successfully prevented the flames from causing more extensive damage to the neighboring apartment building.

CFDMedia's post came in conjunction with a 2-11 alarm call for the fire service, indicating the severity of the blaze that had already caused partial collapse of the older structure. "7704 Peoria 2-11 now struck out by 2-1-10. Original building totally involved upon arrival. Fire building collapsed. Building was vacant. Fire spread to apartment building but quickly stopped," the post detailed. Thankfully, no injuries were reported from the neighboring edifice, seemingly due to the swift fire suppression efforts.