Roselle firefighters rescued a 26-year-old woman from her burning apartment, but they were unable to save her 3-month-old son in northwest suburban Itasca early Wednesday.
The fire started about 12:50 a.m. in their second-floor apartment of the five-story apartment complex at 1660 W. Norwood Ave., according to Roselle Fire Protection District Shift Cmdr. Christopher Howell.
When firefighters arrived at the scene, they saw smoke showing from a second-floor unit. The firefighters evacuated the building and rescued a 26-year-old woman from the living room of the apartment that caught fire. Firefighters were unable to save the womans three-month-old infant son from a bedroom, Howell said.
The boy's father was at work at the time of the fire, Howell said.
Howell, who declined to release the names of the infant or woman, did not know why the woman and baby were unable to get out of the apartment.
The fire was controlled at about 1:25 a.m., Howell said. Shortly after the fire was controlled, residents living on the third, fourth and fifth floors were allowed back into the building. Residents of the first and second floor were allowed back into the building later, Howell said.
The fire left the second-floor unit where the infant was killed uninhabitable and caused water damage to the unit below. No other units were damaged, Howell said.
Howell said the DuPage County Coroner's Office removed the body from the scene, but the coroner's office was not immediately available for comment.
The state fire marshals office and DuPage County investigators are determining the cause of the fire, Howell said.
Copyright 2006, Chicago Sun-Times Inc.
