101-year-old woman killed in Maywood house fire

A 101-year-old woman was found dead after a fire at her home in west suburban Maywood late Friday.

Crews responded about 10 p.m. to the blaze in the 2000 block of South Ninth Avenue, where flames had spread from two bedrooms and into the kitchen, according to the Maywood Fire Department.

A 73-year-old man who suffered burns was taken to Loyola University Medical Center, and the woman was found dead after the fire was brought under control about 15 minutes later, officials said.

She was identified by the Cook County medical examiner’s office as Hattie Harper. An autopsy Saturday found she died from inhalation of products of combustion in a house fire and her death was ruled an accident.

The man was expected to survive. Fire officials initially said that he had died and that no one else was inside the home, but later corrected that. The cause of the fire is under investigation.