A 79-year-old woman died after she was pulled from the basement of a home that caught fire Wednesday in south suburban Peotone.
Neighbors smelled smoke about 11:30 p.m. and called 911 to report a fire in the 700 block of Pelican Lane, according to Peotone police and fire officials.
Responding officers saw fire coming through the single-level duplex’s roof and tried to enter through the front door, but were unable due to heat and smoke, Peotone Police Chief William Mort said.
When firefighters arrived, they entered the home and rescued 79-year-old Brenda Adkins from the basement, according to Peotone officials and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
She was taken to St. James Olympia Fields hospital and pronounced dead at 1:10 a.m. Thursday, authorities said. Autopsy results have not been released.
“Another person who lived in the home was a firefighter, but she wasn’t there that night,” Mort said.
After extinguishing the fire, crews were called back about 4:30 a.m. when the fire rekindled, Mort said.
“It was a very difficult fire,” Peotone Fire Department Deputy Chief Bruce Boyle said.
He said there was extensive damage to one side of the duplex home, including collapses in some places.
No one else was home during the fire, and two families were displaced, authorities said. The Illinois State Fire Marshall is investigating the cause of the fire.
