Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
Virsia Banister, an 88-year-old woman, was seriously burned and later died after fire ravaged an Englewood home late Saturday night in the 7100 block of South Lowe Avenue
Firefighters first got a call about the fire about 9:30 p.m. More than 20 engine companies and 60 fire personnel responded to the 2.5-story brick home. Banister was found in a bedroom with second- and third-degree burns to her torso, legs and airway. She was taken to St. Bernard Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 10:12 p.m.
The firefighters on the scene kept working to extinguish the blaze, getting it under control at 10:04 p.m.
Sunday morning, firefighters and volunteers were canvassing the immediate area, notifying neighbors of the fatal fire and passing out smoke detectors, as is customary, fire officials said. They hoped to cover at least two square blocks.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. After an autopsy, the medical examiner’s office listed Banister’s death as accidental with both inhalation of combustibles during the house fire and heart disease as factors.
