1 hospitalized in blaze at Chicago Lawn building

Firefighters battled a blaze Thursday morning in a vacant two-story building in Chicago Lawn on the Southwest Side.

The fire began about 4:30 a.m. in the 2900 block of West 63rd Street, Chicago Fire Department officials said.

One person was rescued from the second floor by ladder and another escaped from the first floor of the building, officials said. Firefighters have responded to fires at the building before, a spokesperson with the fire department said.

One person was taken to Holy Cross Hospital with "very minor" injuries, officials said.

The building was said to have been vacant for years, and it appears squatters have been using the building "for some time," fire spokesperson Larry Langford said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation but may have been caused by "illegal electrical hookups," fire officials said.

The building sustained "substantial damage" but was still standing, Langford said. The fire was extinguished about 7:45 a.m.

CTA rerouted 63rd Street buses as firefighters worked to put out the blaze.