CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Firefighters passed out free smoke detectors Monday morning on a block where there was a fatal fire in the Chatham neighborhood last week.Two-year old Jacurion Lewis died Saturday, days after a fire that left him and a 94-year-old man injured Wednesday in Chatham.
Jacurion was critically hurt in the fire Wednesday at a two-story building in the 700 block of East 91st Street, according to Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:02 a.m. Saturday, the medical examiner’s office said.
An autopsy conducted Sunday found that he died from smoke inhalation and injuries he received in the apartment fire caused by a malfunctioning space heater, the medical examiner’s office said. His death has been ruled an accident.
"It’s good to have the firemen out here giving smoke detectors because some people really don’t have ‘em," said Natiya Keaton, who lives across the street from where Wednesday's fire happened.Keaton said her house already had a working smoke detector, because they save lives. According to fire spokesman Larry Langford, when fire hit last, there had been a working smoke detector on the second floor, but not on the first floor where the boy had been."Early alert is important so that they can alert the rest of their family members to get out of the building," said Deputy District Chief Louis Bongiorno.
A 94-year-old man also suffered burns in the fire and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in serious condition, according to police and Chicago Fire Department officials.
No one else was found in the building, the fire department said. Other children live in the home, but were away at the time of the fire.
Ten residents were displaced as a result of the blaze, police said.