Jan 11, 2009 4:46 pm US/Central
2 Killed In West Side Fire, 11 Displaced
CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) ―
Two elderly residents of a home in the West Side's Lawndale neighborhood -- a brother and sister -- were killed in an extra-alarm fire that gutted their home and damaged two others early Sunday.
The fire began about 2:20 a.m. at a 2 ½-story home at 1911 S. Homan Ave. It was raised to a still-and-box alarm at 2:25 a.m. and a 2-11 alarm at 2:42 a.m., according to Fire Media Affairs Asst. Director Eve Rodriguez.
The fire spread to the building to the north and the building to the south -- 1909 and 1915 S. Homan Ave., she said.
During a search of the home at 1911 S. Homan Ave., one victim was found in the living room and another in a bedroom, Rodriguez said. That home was completely destroyed by the blaze.
Rodriguez said it has not been determined whether the destroyed home had working smoke detectors, but firefighters heard smoke detectors in the neighboring buildings.
The two victims remained unidentified Sunday afternoon, but the man was believed to be in his 90s and the woman believed to be in her 80s, according to a spokesman for the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
The man died from carbon monoxide intoxication and inhalation of smoke and soot from a house fire, according to a Sunday autopsy. The woman died of inhalation injuries from the fire, as well as coronary atherosclerosis. The deaths were both ruled accidents, the medical examiner's office said.
Gussie Dye, who has lived in the area since 1959, said the elderly woman who lived at 1911 S. Homan was a pleasant neighbor, and she and her brother had caretakers that came into the home regularly to look after them. She noted that the man who lived at the home used a wheelchair to get around, since he had the lower halves of both legs amputated. The two were in the process of moving to a long-term care facility, Dye said. The woman used a walker, neighbors said.
Rodriguez confirmed one of the victims used a wheelchair.
Eleven people, including three children, who lived in neighboring residences, were displaced, and were receiving assistance from the American Red Cross.
The 2-11 fire was extinguished by 3:40 a.m., and there was no word Sunday afternoon on the cause of the blaze.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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