A fire this afternoon on the South Side spread to two nearby buildings, damaging them and sending one person to the hospital.

The cause of the blaze at 3644 S. Parnell is under investigation. It was called into the city's 911 center at 12:51 p.m., fire officials said.

The fire spread to both 3646 and 3642 S. Parnell, burning the rear portion of Kathy D's, a neighboring store.

"We were working and the little boy next store came over and said that there was a fire," said owner Colleen Spizzirri.  "There were lots of kids in the house and we were pulling them out."

The young boy's grandfather tried to put the fire out with towels, and was later taken to Mercy Hospital with burns on his hands, neighbors said.

Fire officials said the blaze was extinguished at 2:24 p.m.