Eight people were displaced and multiple dogs required oxygen when seven occupied homes burned in a “suspicious” fire early Thursday in Chicago’s Fuller Park neighborhood, according to the Fire Department.

       More than 150 firefighters were called to the 4900 block of South Princeton Avenue on the South Side about 3:30 a.m. for an extra-alarm blaze that Larry Langford, a spokesman for the Chicago Fire Department, said was thought to have originated on the rear porch of a vacant 2.5-story building at 4920 S. Princeton Ave.

       For more than two hours they used 45 pieces of equipment to attack the fire, which spread to homes on either side of the vacant building, Langford said in an email.

       “Fire is being investigated as suspicious,” he said. Investigators with the Chicago Police Department’s bombs and arson unit were “working the case along with CFD fire investigation division.”

       There were no firefighter or civilian injuries, Langford said. No working smoke detectors had been located as of Thursday morning.

       Of the seven occupied structures, at least four main houses caught fire, as did two coach houses in backyards, fire officials said. The eighth building was the vacant residence where officials believe the fire may have been intentionally set.

       “The cause of this fire is still under investigation,” Langford said.

       Along with eight residents who were unable to stay in their charred homes, at least four puppies also needed oxygen after they were found experiencing difficulty breathing. Fire officials said the pups were pulled from rear coach houses, but did not specify whether they were all rescued from one home or if they lived in separate dwellings.

       Four adult dogs also were rescued, Langford said.

       “The Chicago Fire Department remains committed to keeping Chicagoans, and their canine friends, safe,” Langford said.

       kdouglas@chicagotribune.com

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