CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A 1-year-old girl died Wednesday after a fire gutted a home in West Lawn on the Southwest Side that also injured eight other people, including an infant and another toddler.
The fire started at about midnight in the attic of a single-family home in the 6000 block of South Kenneth Avenue, police said. Eight people were taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. And according to the Chicago Fire Department, it appears the attic where fire broke may have been an illegal apartment.
The Chicago Fire Department said 1-year-old Samantha Modesto was found dead of smoke inhalation in the attic of the brick bungalow where her family lived on 60th and Kenneth in the West Lawn neighborhood.
Deputy District Chief Joseph Rispoli said the attic was apparently an illegal apartment.
"As far as I know, the city was not notified and there was no permits pulled for a second floor apartment. The city will be following up on that," he said.
"Most likely there should not have been an apartment on the second floor. I'm not familiar with the building, but I believe there really isn't a second means of [getting out of the house>."
City spokeswoman Mimi Simon said the Building Department will do a post-fire inspection after the Fire Department completes its investigation into the cause. Then, if there are violations, the city would take the owner to court.
A one-year old girl died and seven others were taken to Christ Hospital with smoke inhalation, after a fire on 60th & Kenneth in the West Lawn neighborhood. Police say the cause of the fire appears accidental. @WBBMNewsradio pic.twitter.com/g6S50Y5IEl
— Bernie Tafoya (@BernieTafoya) March 4, 2020Meanwhile, hours after the fire was put out, firefighters distributed smoke detectors to residents who live on both sides of the block where the fire started around midnight.
Chief Rispoli said that when firefighters from Engine 88 arrived, there was heavy fire in the attic of the brick bungalow at 6040 S. Kenneth.
Firefighters were told there were two children trapped on the second floor and the firefighters went and pulled out the two children- Samantha Modesto, the 1-year old who was lifeless when firefighters reached her, and a 2-year old girl who was last reported in critical condition at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn.
Seven others from the house were taken to the hospital, as well, three of them in critical condition--a five-month old boy, a 31-year old man and a 22-year old woman. A 12-year-old boy and 14-year-old girl and two women, 40 and 28, were in good condition.
