Suit: Fatal 2013 fire on West Side caused by faulty space heater

The family of a woman killed in a West Side house fire almost two years ago claims the blaze was caused by a space heater plugged into an overloaded power outlet and is suing the building manager.

Tamisha Davidson, 18, died of smoke inhalation in the in the fire that started in the early morning hours of Feb. 21, 2013, according to fire officials and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

She was upstairs at her home in the 900 block of North Waller when the blaze started in the attic area about 12:40 a.m., fire officials said at the time. Flames spread across the attic and second floor before it was extinguished about an hour later.

Davidson was found dead after the fire. A man was seriously injured and eight other people in the home were displaced by the fire, officials said.

Davidson’s family claims the fire was caused by “the misuse of a space heater” with a frayed power cord that was placed too close to “combustibles,” according to a lawsuit filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court by Tamika Davidson, the administrator of the victim’s estate. Their exact relationship was not identified in the suit.

The suit claims the building manager didn’t provide functional smoke detectors or “fire prevention materials.”

The two-count wrongful death suit seeks more than $100,000 in damages.