Jan 31, 2009 9:23 pm US/Central
Police: Fire That Killed Woman, Daughter Was Arson
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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A 7-year-old girl and a 23-year-old pregnant woman were killed in an extra-alarm fire in the Albany Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side.
CBS
A mother and daughter are dead after flames swept through their Albany Park home. Police think it was no accident.
The deadly fire on the North Side killed a pregnant woman and her seven-year-old daughter. Flames shot out of the roof of a building in the 3900 block of Argyle.
Police say 23-year-old Rosanna Ocampo and her young daughter died from smoke inhalation.
A family member, who didn't' want to be identified, says he won't rest until the suspect is found.
CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports on the investigation and the neighbors left to deal with the tragedy.
"That house in the back…they were hanging out of the window all the way in the back of the yard," said witness Jennifer Cellak.
Cellak recalls an image she says she'll never forget -- a father and daughter standing in an upper floor window as their apartment burned.
"You could see the little girl and the father sticking their head and the smoke was coming all around them," Cellak said. "He was crying – 'my baby can't breathe. My baby can't breathe.'"
Cellak says the young girl's father tried to shield his child from the smoke.
"She was over the window and her father was covering her," Cellak said. "The smoke was unbearable."
The father and daughter were hanging from a third floor window. Neighbors in the adjacent building were so close they could hear the father and daughter scream and gasp for air, but they were too far to help.
All they could do was look on helplessly from their windows. Five Chicago police officers tried to enter the building but were beaten back by the flames.
A still-and-box alarm was called for a fire inside a four-story apartment building in the 3900 block of west Argyle street about 1:15 a.m. for a blaze in the staircase. The fire spread quickly and the entire building became fully involved, said Fire Media Affairs spokesman Q. Curtis.
The fire was elevated from a still-and-box alarm to a 2-11 alarm at 1:21 a.m., and an EMS Plan 1 was called at 1:25 a.m. The fire was extinguished about 2:20 a.m.
"They had heavy fire in the front of the building, on the interior stairwells," said Richard Edgeworth, Chicago Fire Department. "The companies went to work immediately, a lot of fire, they got the fire knocked down."
Firefighters arrived minutes later and rescued the man and his daughter from the third floor. The same can't be said for a mother and daughter who lost their lives on the second floor.
Paramedics transported three adults to Swedish Covenant Hospital and a minor to Children's Memorial Hospital, Curtis said. The injured suffered a variety of injuries from smoke inhalation to burns.
Itzel Fernandez, 7, and Rosanna Ocampo, 23, both of 3912 W. Argyle St., did not survive the blaze, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office. Fernandez was pronounced dead a Swedish at 2:14 a.m. and Ocampo pronounced at Swedish at 2:32 a.m.
Mario Santiago walked to school every day with seven-year-old Itzel Fernandez. When asked how hard the trip will be without his cousin, Santiago said, "Hard…she used to cheer me up all the time - make funny jokes," he said.
The brother and uncle of the victims, who wished to remain unidentified, said threatening phone calls were made to family members before the fire broke out. He said he believes the fire was deliberately set.
Bomb and arson investigators have since confirmed that. And the grieving brother believes the arsonists killed a third person as well, because his sister was seven months pregnant.
The brother said his sister was going to find out the sex of the baby on February 8, but she had a pair of girl's shoes and boy's shoes just in case.
"She was really ready for this baby," he said. "Oh, God…like I said justice for all."
And now he says he won't rest until his sister's killers are brought to justice.
At least a dozen people made it out of the apartment building thanks to working smoke detectors on the first floor.
Police News Affairs Officer Daniel O'Brien said the responsible party was unknown at this time.
Four Chicago police officers and one police sergeant on the scene were hurt while attempting to evacuate the building, O'Brien said.
Three of the officers were taken to Swedish Covenant Hospital, one went to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, O'Brien said. All had been treated for smoke inhalation or other "minor" injuries and released by 11 a.m.
A minor was also hurt in the fire, and taken to Children's Memorial Hospital in an unknown condition, Curtis said.
The fire spokesman said the blaze spread to an adjacent building, reportedly 3910 W. Argyle St., but had no information on any displacements or injured parties in the second building touched by fire.
A spokesman for The American Red Cross of Greater Chicago said 22 people, including a child, were displaced in the fire. The agency is providing food, clothing, and some provisions for infant care.
The police Bomb and Arson Unit is working with Grand Central Area detectives on the arson investigation.
The STNG Wire contributed to this report.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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