Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability

Fires Continue to Kill People in Unsafe Buildings as Chicago Ignores Problems with its Inspection System

As other cities across the country adopt innovative programs to fix problem buildings, Chicago lags behind.

by Alex Nitkin, Adriana Pérez and Grey Lucas March 10, 2023August 29, 2025

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Fires Continue to Kill People in Unsafe Buildings as Chicago Ignores Problems with its Inspection System

by Alex Nitkin, Adriana Pérez and Grey Lucas, Illinois Answers Project
March 10, 2023

<h1>Fires Continue to Kill People in Unsafe Buildings as Chicago Ignores Problems with its Inspection System</h1>
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A fire in the 500 block of North Central Avenue in April 2022 seriously injured Herrsterstine Burns, 57, who died three weeks later. Investigators found the apartment had no smoke alarms, even though city inspectors had visited the building as recently as early 2021 on other issues, records show. (Credit: Jose M. Osorio/ Chicago Tribune file photo)

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Tagged: Fires, Fatal Fires, Building Inspections

Alex NitkinGovernment Finance and Accountability Reporter

anitkin@illinoisanswers.org

Alex Nitkin is a government finance and accountability reporter conducting investigations on systemic problems and the public policies that are meant to fix them in Chicago, Cook County and Illinois government. Before joining Illinois Answers, he worked as a reporter and editor for The Daily Line covering Cook County and Chicago government. He previously worked at The Real Deal Chicago, where he covered local real estate news, and DNAinfo Chicago, where he worked as a breaking news reporter and then as a neighborhood reporter covering the city's Northwest Side. A New York native who grew up in Connecticut, Alex graduated Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism with a bachelor’s degree.

More by Alex Nitkin

Adriana PérezReporter

adperez@chicagotribune.com

A recent graduate from the University of Notre Dame, Adriana is a Chicago Tribune reporter on the metro desk. She has worked at the Dallas Morning News and as editor-in-chief of The Observer, Notre Dame's student newspaper.

More by Adriana Pérez

Grey Lucas

Grey Lucas was an investigative reporting intern with the Illinois Answers Project in 2022 and 2023.

More by Grey Lucas