Two Chicago firefighters were trapped after a ceiling collapsed on them while they were fighting a blaze on the West Side early this morning.

The fire occurred at 3219 W. Warren Blvd., a house that was vacant due to previous fires, said fire department spokesman Richard Rosado.

Alderman Ed Smith, who lives next door, was awakened this morning by police who warned him of the danger.

"It was a serious fire that was in full blaze," he said. "It was a huge fire; it was bad."

The firefighters were in the kitchen in the back of the one-and-a-half story home as the fire raged in the attic above them, said Joel Burns, 4th District Business Agent for the Chicago Fire Fighters' Union.

During "overhaul," a process which involves pulling back the ceiling to look for extensions of the fire, the back part of the house collapsed on top of them, said Burns.

They were immediately rescued by their fellow firefighters.

One suffered a broken ankle. A third firefighter was taken to the hospital with shoulder injuries he suffered after the fire was extinguished.

All three were treated and released.Smith's home was damaged in the blaze.

"I don't know the significance of it; I know there was some damage," Smith said.

Smith said the house two doors down from his caught fire three weeks ago. That fire spread to the home that burned today.

"The fires were so bad they had to move people out," said Smith.

Both of those houses have remained unoccupied and boarded up since that time. The cause of this morning's fire is still under investigation.

A wall of the burned-out house, remains standing and is obscuring Smith's view of the damage sustained by his own home.

"I will not be able to determine how bad it was until they get that wall down," Smith said.

Watching from his front porch, he worried over the fate of his own house.

"You always worry about your house when you're next door to a huge fire."But, he said, "This fire department that we have in Chicago is superb. These guys are good. They know what they're doing and they do it good. They lay their lives on the line for the citizens of this city."