Stove used for heat, no detectors where 2 kids died in fire

A stove was being used for heat in the basement where two children died and a third was critically injured in a South Side fire Saturday night.

District Chief Dan Cunningham said Monday there were no working smoke detectors in the basement of the two-story building at 66th and Champlain.

Meanwhile, the city Building Department said after assessing the fire damage on Sunday, its inspectors forwarded the building to the city Law Department for a demolition order.

It was a miracle firefighters were able to find and save one of the children in the charred basement even though they arrived less than three minutes after receiving the call, he said. The fire was reported about 10:30 p.m. Saturday.

“When we have any fatalities, it’s very difficult, and when we have multiple fatalities, especially children, it makes it that much more difficult,” Cunningham said during a news conference outside the building in the Woodlawn neighborhood.

Firefighters went up and down the block handing out smoke detectors on Sunday.

“When we say make sure your smoke detectors are working, we really mean it. Two-thirds of fire fatalities are in structures that don’t have working smoke detectors,” Cunningham said. “It’s very important.”

He spoke softly as he described how firefighters found a 7-month-old girl pressed up against a wall on a mattress, and a 2-year-old girl kneeling at the foot of the same mattress. Autopsies on Sunday concluded Ziya Grace and Jamaii Grace, 2, died of smoke inhalation.

A 6-year-old boy suffered burns over 70 percent of the body, and remains hospitalized in critical condition at Comer Children’s Hospital.

Three adults escaped from the fast-spreading fire, which started in the kitchen and entered bedrooms where adults and children were sleeping, Cunningham said. A firefighter was treated at the hospital for minor injuries and released, Cunningham said.

A total of four engine companies and 54 firefighters responded to the fire. Upon arrival, they saw no fire, but heavy, heavy smoke coming from the basement, Cunningham said.

Entering with a water hose, they found the basement pitch black with zero visibility, but the captain of Engine 47, first team to arrive, heard a faint child’s voice crying out, Cunningham said. He felt his way toward the weak voice.

“He did report that he heard a child screaming out. He was fortunate that he was able to get to that child. He could see fire just at the room’s edge, so he was able to get to that child at the same time that his members were attempting to extinguish it, taking the child to the door, where paramedics were already waiting,” Cunningham said.

Finding the fire in the kitchen, firefighters extinguished it, continuing to feel their way until they felt mattresses indicating a second bedroom, he said. “Minutes later, when it it was too late, the other two kids were discovered,” said Cunningham.

Saturday night, he sent peer support representatives to the firehouse of Engine 47, first on the scene.

“I made sure that they went out and spoke with the firefighters that same night because I really felt they looked so down,” Cunningham said.

“Although they did an outstanding job. They were fortunate enough to be able to rescue the one child. I think had it not been for their quick action, it would have been a lot more tragic. Seconds really do matter,” he said.

The fire remains under investigation. The owner, who officials said was insured, was interviewed by the city building department Monday morning.

The department had previously received a complaint of no heat from residents at the building. After a 311 call on Jan. 5, inspectors visited the address on Jan. 6 but were unable to gain entry, the department said. A notice left at the building instructed the owner to contact the department, which apparently never happened, officials said.

The Rev. Leonard T. Smith of Vernon Baptist Church two blocks away at 6400 S. Champlain, came to the building seeking help getting in contact with family members, because the church was planning a Monday night fundraiser for them.

“Obviously, when it’s children, and it’s this close to home, it hurts,” Smith said.