Woman killed in Maywood house fire

(MAYWOOD) A 64-year-old woman died Friday morning after a fire broke out at her west suburban Maywood home.

Firefighters responded to the blaze at the two-story, two family apartment building about 8 a.m. in the 400 block of South 14th Street, said Maywood Fire Chief Craig Bronaugh. Shortly after rescue crews arrived, they were alerted that someone was still inside the building.

Clementine Williams was found unresponsive in her first-floor bedroom and taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where she was pronounced dead at 8:26 a.m., according to Bronaugh and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

An autopsy performed Saturday found Williams died of smoke and soot inhalation she suffered in the house fire, the medical examiner’s office said. Her death was ruled an accident.

No one else was injured in the fire, Bronaugh said. Two people living in the second floor apartment were unharmed, but their home was rendered uninhabitable.

The blaze was extinguished in about 90 minutes, Bronaugh said.

Bronaugh said the fire originated in Williams’ living room and appears to be accidental.