NEW CHICAGO, IND. (WBBM NEWSRADIO/AP) -- A 2-year-old girl died and her mother was seriously injured after their northwestern Indiana mobile home caught fire and flames spread to two other homes, officials said.
Firefighters found the woman's home engulfed in flames when they arrived Thursday afternoon at the Ravinia Pines Mobile Home Park in the Lake County, Indiana, town of New Chicago.
“You could see the smoke from miles away, you know, and the smoke was pretty heavy,” New Chicago Fire Chief Evin Eakins told CBS 2.
The smoke was so thick that getting into the mobile home was not easy.
The girl’s mother was found in a bedroom and airlifted to the University of Chicago Medical Center in very serious condition, Eakins said.
“We found the mother laying on the bedroom floor and was able to pull her out,” he said.
After speaking to neighbors, firefighters realized the woman’s 2-year-old daughter was still trapped inside, but it was too dangerous for them to immediately go back inside, he said.
After reducing the flames, firefighters reentered the trailer and found the girl in a corner of the living room, but she was soon pronounced dead. The Lake County coroner’s office said the cause and manner of her death were pending.
“This is something that you never get used to, and we all have families, and it really, really hurts to see something like this happen,” Eakins said.
RELATED: Plane Crash, Fire In Rockford Leaves 1 Dead
Eakins said late Thursday night, the fire did not appear to be suspicious. There was no word late Thursday night whether there were any working smoke detectors in the trailer.
Eakins said two homes on either side of the woman's trailer were heavily damaged by flames. The state fire marshall is investigating the fire in New Chicago, which is located just southeast of Gary.