Eight Killed in Chicago Apartment Blaze
By Madeline Buckley and Morgan Greene
Source Chicago Tribune
Aug. 26 -- Eight people were killed — including six children — in an extra-alarm fire early Sunday morning in Little Village on the West Side, officials said.
A teenager and a young adult were rushed to hospitals in very critical condition, and a firefighter was hospitalized in good condition.
As the sun rose and broke through hazy clouds, a large crowd gathered outside Mount Sinai Hospital, where some of the victims were taken. They were quiet and pacing until they received word of the fatalities.
The family and friends gripped each other and cried. A little boy crouched on the ground and buried his head in his hands. A woman staggered and grabbed the cement wall of the hospital for support.
“I can’t live without my babies,” a woman cried.
Hours later, it was still unclear how the fire started in the 2200 block of South Sacramento Avenue. Nearby, men cried, women held onto the hands of children and neighbors watched from across the street as Jessie Cobos said he lost three children in the fire.
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“We’re asking God to protect us, and he’ll heal our hearts,” Cobos said. “We’ve got to love each other today because tomorrow is not promised.”
The Rev. Clifford Spears of St. Michael Missionary Baptist Church led the crowd in a prayer as candles were lit and lined up along the sidewalk. A man hammered a wooden cross into the ground. Written in marker on its center board were six names: Giovanni, Gialanni, Alanni, Ariel, Xavier and Cesar.
Cobos said he was the father of Giovanni, 10, Gialanni, 5, and Alanni, 3.
“I got a phone call stating that there was a fire on this block and the pastor wanted me to come pray for the family,” he said. “I never knew I was going to come pray for my own kids.”
Cobos said the trio was “amazing” as he cried and held onto a little Mickey Mouse stuffed animal from the Red Cross. Gio was a happy little kid who loved to play outside and play Fortnite, he said.
“Alanni, she was just a sweet little girl,” he said. “Me and my mom used to joke around that she was a midget because she was so small, but so smart.” And Gia was just a “beautiful soul,” he said.
“They were just so happy,” Cobos said. “They were so happy.”
Cobos headed down the street to get more wooden crosses.
“Anything could happen from one minute or the next,” he said. “If I could only go back to last night and give my kids one more hug, let them know that they are loved.”
Firefighters were called just before 4 a.m., Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Merritt said. The blaze enveloped at least two buildings, including a coach house.
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Those killed and injured were all transported from the same residence, Merritt said. He said investigators had not found working smoke detectors.
The homes were just south of a main business corridor on Cermak Road populated with restaurants and shops. Emergency crews staged a massive scene at the corner of Cermak and Sacramento.
In the morning, Denise Mercado sat on the sidewalk on Cermak, surrounded by her five young children. She had tears in her eyes as the family huddled together. Her daughter held her toddler brother while her son held onto her knee.
The family was roused from sleep when they smelled smoke, and Mercado hustled to make sure all five children got out of the house. Her young son scooped up the toddler and ran out. The other children followed.
“I carried my brother,” the little boy said quietly.
Mercado said officers were ushering people away from the block. “The flames … it was huge,” she said in Spanish.
After the fire was extinguished, residents who were evacuated stood on the corner, watching as crews doused sparks of flame. Red crime scene tape blocked off Sacramento. A woman who lives nearby saw seven people wheeled out of the buildings on stretchers. Several were covered, she said.
Ald. George Cardenas, 12th, said community organizations are working in coordination with the Red Cross to assist families.
Throughout the morning, workers from the Red Cross handed out drinks and snacks and were on-site to provide support.
“Our hearts go out to the families and children impacted by this type of fire,” said Celena Roldan, Chief Executive Officer for the Red Cross in Chicago and Northern Illinois.
Roldan said the Red Cross will help those affected by the fire find financial assistance, provide mental health support and organize community memorials and funerals in the coming weeks.
In the next week, the Red Cross will carry out a “reactive canvas,” working with the fire department and alderman’s office to install smoke alarms in the area.
“We know that 7 people die in home fires every day in this country and it’s the number one disaster that we respond to,” said Roldan.
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