A one-alarm fire at the Light of Life Mission on the North Side temporarily displaced about 25 homeless men and mission workers today.
The fire began in an unoccupied second-floor bedroom of the mission, which is at North Avenue near Federal Street. Mission officials say smoking is forbidden in the facility.
The mission's cook noticed smoke coming from a window around 10:45 a.m. He pulled the alarms, and the building was evacuated. Fire officials said there were no injuries.
Men in rehabilitation for drugs and alcohol live in the mission. They sleep on the second and third floors and take Bible and recovery classes during the day.
The mission also serves breakfast to about 80 people each morning. Mission officials said all of those individuals had left the building before the fire began.
Fire officials said the blaze was confined to the one bedroom, but that water had damaged the building's chapel.
After building inspectors walked through, mission officials were allowed to return. Six residents were directly affected by the fire and the men would double up in some bedrooms until fire damage was repaired. The chapel is off limits until it can be restored.
The mission has full insurance, said Beth Healey, a spokeswoman for Light of Life, but no damage estimates were available.
As firefighters battled the blaze, shelter residents fretted over their belongings, including one man who wanted to recover his $400 leather Steelers jacket. While they waited, they sang spirituals in the sunshine.
At noon, the displaced residents went to Light of Life offices on Western Avenue, about five blocks aways, to have lunch, Bible study and to get out of the cold.
The mission's first-floor emergency services, which house the overnight shelter and the breakfast program, were not expected to be disrupted.
First Published: February 21, 2007, 5:00 a.m.