STOVE USED FOR HEAT, NO DETECTORS WHERE 2 KIDS DIED IN FIRE
A stove was being used for heat in the basement where two children died and a third was critically injured in a South Side fire Saturday night.
District Chief Dan Cunningham said Monday there were no working smoke detectors in the basement of the two- story building at 66th and Champlain.
It was a miracle firefighters were able to find and save one of the children in the charred basement even though they arrived less than threeminutes after receiving the call, he said. The fire was reported about 10: 30 p. m. Saturday.
“When we have any fatalities, it’s very difficult, and when we have multiple fatalities, especially children, it makes it that much more difficult,” Cunningham said during a news conference outside the building in the Woodlawn neighborhood.
Firefighters went up and down the block handing out smoke detectors after the fire.
He spoke softly as he described how firefighters found a 7- month- old girl pressed up against a wall on a mattress and a 2- year- old girl kneeling at the foot of the same mattress. Autopsies on Sunday concluded Ziya Grace and Jamaii Grace, 2, died of smoke inhalation.
A 6- year- old boy suffered burns over 70 percent of his body and remains hospitalized in critical condition at Comer Children’s Hospital.
Several adults escaped from the fast- spreading fire, which started in the kitchen and entered bedrooms where adults and children were sleeping, Cunningham said. A firefighter was treated at the hospital for minor injuries and released, Cunningham said.
When firefighters arrived, they saw no fire but heavy, heavy smoke coming from the basement. Entering with a water hose, they found it pitch black with zero visibility, but the captain on that team heard a faint child’s voice crying out, Cunningham said.
He felt his way toward the weak voice, found the 6- year- old, grabbed him and took him to the door, where paramedics were waiting, Cunningham said. Finding the fire in the kitchen, firefighters extinguished it, continuing to feel their way until they felt mattresses indicating a bedroom, he said. That’s when they found the bodies of the other children.
After the fire, he sent peer support representatives to the firehouse of Engine 47, which was first on the scene.
“Imade sure that theywent out and spoke with the firefighters that same night because I really felt they looked so down,” Cunningham said.
“Although they did an outstanding job. They were fortunate enough to be able to rescue the one child. I think had it not been for their quick action, it would have been a lot more tragic,” he said.
The fire remains under investigation. The owner, who officials said was insured, was interviewed by the city building department Monday morning.
Leonard T. Smith, aminister at Vernon Baptist Church two blocks away at 6400 S. Champlain, came to the building seeking help getting in contact with family members because the church was planning a Monday night fundraiser for them.