DeKalb apartment building to be demolished after fire, city manager says

DeKALB – A DeKalb apartment building ravaged by fire and condemned due to damage will be demolished, City Manager Bill Nicklas told tenants and fire victims Tuesday.

The demolition needs to occur before authorities can determine whether two neighboring buildings in the same complex can have tenants again due to “utility challenges,” Nicklas said.

The city of DeKalb hosted a public update meeting on New Year’s Eve for tenants and victims of a north-side apartment fire that left dozens displaced days before Christmas.

The meeting was a chance for those affected to learn about the status of the fire that condemned 1024 W. Hillcrest Drive and left units in two neighboring buildings at 930 and 934 Greenbrier Road temporarily uninhabitable, officials said. The complex used to be called Hunter Trifrat.

“At Tuesday’s meeting, City Manager Bill Nicklas explained 1024 W. Hillcrest Drive, the most severely damaged building, has been condemned and will need to be demolished,” officials wrote in a news release. “The interior of this building has partially collapsed.”

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The rear of 1024 W. Hillcrest Drive, is taped off to residents and passersby on Monday, Dec. 23, 2024, after the City of DeKalb condemned the building less than 24 hours following a major fire on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. The fire displaced an estimated 60 residents in the three-building complex. Debris and charred remnants of the building lay scattered around the parking lot Monday. (Kelsey Rettke)

The Greenbrier buildings also remain uninhabitable as of Tuesday.

“We want to work as fast as possible with the owners to safely get the building down, so workers paid by the owner can extend the water and the electric to the other two buildings,” Nicklas said in a news release.

Nicklas said it’s too early to say when tenants may be able to return to the Greenbrier Road buildings, according to the release.

The Greenbrier buildings still need electricity and water restored, according to the city. The two utilities are connected throughout all three buildings via the 1024 W. Hillcrest Drive basement. When that building is demolished, independent utility lines for the Greenbrier properties will need to be installed, city officials said.

Firefighters from more than a dozen agencies across northern Illinois responded to the Dec. 22 blaze. The fire started inside a West Hillcrest unit and quickly spread to the attic and then to neighboring buildings. The multilevel Hillcrest Drive building was condemned due to fire, smoke and water damage.

Authorities had not announced a cause of the fire as of Wednesday.

Volunteers told Shaw Local that 32 families – almost 60 residents total – were displaced. Many included children and babies.

In the 10 days since the fire, volunteers and staff with service agencies including the Family Service Agency of DeKalb County, The American Red Cross, DeKalb Township and the city have worked to provide the residents with temporary housing.

Staff with the Family Service Agency also put a call out to local landlords, urging them to offer affordable housing to the affected families. Agency staff called the search for affordable housing “a critical challenge” and said many families are in need of immediate housing.

Rylie Loucks-Kues of the Family Service Agency asked landlords who have available units to contact her with details, including availability and rental costs. She can be reached at rlouckskues@fsadekalbcounty.org.