Woman, 18, found in illegal basement bedroom, dies in Waukegan fire

An 18-year-old woman died Sunday, almost a week after suffering injuries in a north suburban Waukegan house fire.

The fire happened about 5:15 p.m. on Dec. 4 at a single-family home in the 1300 block of North Jackson Street, according to Steve Lenzi, Waukegan Fire Department spokesman.

When firefighters arrived there was heavy smoke coming from a side door leading to a basement, Lenzi said.

The woman, Alondra Caballero Negron of Waukegan, was found in a basement room illegally modified into a bedroom, Lenzi said.

Crews took her to a local hospital then transferred her to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Lenzi said.

She died Sunday, and an autopsy Wednesday found she died of complications of smoke inhalation injuries in the fire, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Her death was ruled an accident.

Smoke damage was confined to the basement, but heavy smoke throughout the home made it inhabitable, Lenzi said.