Neighbor rescues child in fatal fire near Midway Airport

Susan M. Collopy, 60, died in the fire. Fire officials say a neighbor was woken up by his dog and rescued a child and adult from the blaze before firefighters arrived.

SHARE Neighbor rescues child in fatal fire near Midway Airport
One person died and a child was among three others injured in a fire Nov. 29, 2021, on the Southwest Side.

One person died and a child was among three others injured in a fire Monday on the Southwest Side.

Chicago Fire Media

A neighbor rescued a child from a fire that killed the child’s grandmother Monday morning at a home in Clearing on the Southwest Side.

Renaldo Vera’s dog heard screams and woke him up around 6 a.m., according to the Chicago Fire Department.

Vera rushed to the burning home in the 5700 block of West 64th Street and pulled out the 7-year-old boy and an adult before firefighters arrived, the department said.

“I heard the window break, and I screamed out ... to see if everything was OK,” Vera told reporters at the scene. “I ran downstairs. The grandfather started breaking the windows, and I started helping the little boy out.”

“Then I went back to help the mother out of the window,” Vera said. “Anyone else would’ve done the same.”

La Voz Sidebar 2023

Lea este artículo en español en La Voz Chicago.

La_Voz_Cover_Photo_2.png

When firefighters arrived, they entered the home and found 60-year-old Susan M. Collopy in a rear bedroom, fire officials and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. Paramedics took her to Holy Cross Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, Chicago police said.

An autopsy found Collopy died from smoke inhalation. Her death was ruled an accident.

The 7-year-old boy was taken in serious condition to Loyola University Medical Center, police said. A 34-year-old woman was in fair condition at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, and a 60-year-old man was in good condition at Loyola.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

The Latest
“This is very, very tragic. I have never seen anything like this in my career,” said a fire and emergency official at the scene.
The teen was arrested minutes after a 14-year-old boy was killed and four other people were wounded in the 4200 block of South Wells Street.
The man, 23, was sitting in his car about 2:15 a.m. Saturday when shots were fired, striking him multiple times.
The man, 32, was inside an apartment when someone he knew began firing shots about 4 a.m. Saturday.
The man had been seen waving guns and yelling racist threats from atop a building in the 4100 block of West Chicago Avenue.