Residents, pets safe after Lakeview home burns

All of the occupants of a Lakeview townhouse, including the family pets, safely escaped a Tuesday evening fire that gutted the 2.5-story structure.

No injuries were reported at the fire on the 2800 block of North Racine Avenue that was struck out by 6:30 p.m., according to the Chicago Fire Department. Landlord Glenn Schumacher, who lives next door, said his son alerted him to the fire around 4:30 p.m.

Scott Kevorken, 32, who shares a second floor unit with a roommate. was relieved that his dog and a neighbor’s cat were unharmed. His roommate took their pet when he fled the building, while firefighters retrieved the cat from the first floor of the building around 6 p.m., fire officials said.

“I told (my roommate),’I don’t care about any of the stuff or anything else that happens; you need to tell the fire department that they need to make sure that the cat gets saved,’” said Kevorken, standing calmly near the burned structure.

“At the end of the day, me, (my roommate and…