Chicago Area Local News

CHICAGO RIDGE, Ill. (CBS) ― Two homeless men were killed early Thursday in a fire in a Chicago Ridge laundromat.

The fire broke out around 1:40 a.m. at Bruno's Laundromat, at 10607 S. Ridgeland Ave. in the southwest suburb.

The fire was out within 50 minutes, but gutted the building, according to Chicago Ridge police chief Tim Baldermann.

But after the fire, crews found two men inside. They were taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where one was pronounced dead on arrival, the other a short time later.

Abel Tatro, 30, and Jack Riley, 57, both of whom were homeless, died in the blaze.

CBS 2 spoke with some of Riley's friends Thursday.

"When it was cold out, I tired to get him to stay with me, but he wouldn't do it," said Bob Robinson, a friend of Riley's. "He was one of those guys who was on his own. He didn't want no help from me or nobody."

Bob Robinson says Riley worked with him at the American Legion, and sometimes slept there.

"I've been crying all morning, because he was really close to me," Robinson said.

Another friend, Laura Quillinan, said Riley was a kind and vital man.

"It was so cold yesterday, and the first thing I thought of this morning when I heard this was I knew it was him, because I thought – oh my God – this is where he told me he slept," Quillinan said. "He would never take anything from anybody. He always had a lot of life in him."

"He was a very gentle and kind man, would give you the shirt off his back for anybody and he would not take anything from anybody," said Riley's friend Laura Guillinan.

When Riley did not show up for work at the American Legion Thursday morning, Robinson began to panic.

"When he didn't show up, I got nervous about it," he said.

Authorities say evidence indicates Riley and Tatro, who was also homeless, started a fire in a sink of the 24-hour coin Laundromat to keep warm.

Earlier, Tatro had dinner at a homeless shelter at Our Lady of the Ridge Church, but wasn't allowed to stay the night.

"He was drinking last night and he was refused in that PADS shelter and he went to sleep in that Laundromat," said the victim's friend Ken Griff. Jack and Abel Tatro went up in smoke.

PADS stands for Public Action to Deliver Shelter. The organization runs a network of shelters at rotating sites. Volunteers there confirmed that Abel Tatro took a breathalyzer, was highly intoxicated, and was turned away.

"There's a traveling PAD shelter that's in a different location every night during the winter, and on Wednesday nights, it's in Chicago Ridge at Our Lady of the Ridge Church," Baldermann said. "On Wednesday nights sometimes, some of the homeless can't get into the shelter. They do come to this 24-hour Laundromat to stay warm."

"We've got a great deal of compassion for those who are less fortunate; who are down on their luck, and it's a tragedy," Baldermann said.

It is a tragedy that hits home for those at the Legion, where they are keeping Riley's jacket and hat.

"He also left a couple messages on my machine to call him; he needed to talk to me," Quillinan said. "I'm very sorry I couldn't reach him."

Quillinan said Riley would never take the offer for a room, but did sometimes stay at the mobile shelter and ended up in the Laundromat when he could not get in.

Bruno's is a coin-operated Laundromat that has been there for "many, many years." The building also contains a dry-cleaning business that is part of the Laundromat, but the businesses are separated by a wall, Baldermann said.

CBS 2's Derrick Blakley and Kristyn Hartman, and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.

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