Two children have died after a suspicious extra-alarm fire erupted early Wednesday in West Englewood that also left four others critically hurt, officials said.
Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th), who spoke to reporters on the scene, called the fire “intentional” and suspected a spat between neighbors could have led to the tragedy.
It appeared that the fire started from the outside of the home, and was possibly the result of an argument between neighbors, Lopez said.
“You don’t set their home on fire. You don’t endanger the lives of innocent children sleeping at midnight simply because you’re pissed off at the world. … We do not resolve our differences by torching a home,” Lopez said.
The fire broke out around 1:50 a.m. in the 6200 block of South Paulina Street where nearly 200 Chicago Fire Department personnel responded, fire officials said.
Six people were rescued from the home and were taken to area hospitals, initially all in critical condition, according to the fire department.
Two children have died, according to fire officials and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Autopsies are scheduled.
A neighbor who asked to be unnamed told the Chicago Sun-Times a woman lived in the home with several children, some of them teens and “some little ones.” The woman had lived at the home for four years or so, the neighbor said. The neighbor said he sometimes saw men sitting on the home’s porch.
“If this is in fact arson, we need to catch and bring to justice the individuals responsible for this act,” Lopez said. “No amount of disagreement or animosity gives anyone license to set someone’s house on fire in the middle of the night without children present, let alone when there are children present.”
Lopez is asking residents in the area to check their cameras for any information that might be helpful.
Authorities were first alerted of the fire by a neighbor who called 911, Lopez said. The quick response by the fire department likely prevented the fire from spreading farther down the block.
“At this time, we don’t know the exact nature of the cause,” Lopez said. “But we do know, unlike fires that you sometimes see in abandoned houses, where they start fires for warmth, that does not seem to be the case here,” Lopez said.
“This house was occupied. This house had children in it. This house was set on fire, which is why I’m going to make a plea to the entire community to check their Ring cameras, whatever cameras they have at their own homes, between the hours of midnight and 1:30.”
The cause of the fire is under investigation after an incendiary device was found, according to sources.
Chicago police responded to the fire but haven’t released any details about it.
Lopez described West Englewood as a “great community with a lot of kids.”
Anyone who wants to offer help to those injured in the fire are encouraged to reach out to Lopez’s office at ward15@cityofchicago.org or 773-823-1539.
“I’m sure parents all throughout the neighborhood are going to be hugging their children a little tighter today,” Lopez said.