Excerpts from the Chicagotribune.com:

Four children under the age of 6 and one adult died in Des Plaines Wednesday morning during a residential blaze. The dead include four girls, Renata Espinosa, 6; Genesis Espinosa; Allizon Espinosa, 3; Grace Espinosa, 1; and Citahaly Zamiodo, 25, the medical examiner’s office said. 

Firefighters had heavy smoke coming from the second floor and they learned there were people still inside the 2-story, duplex-type apartment building. Although the more than 100-year-old frame building appears to be a single-family home from the outside, Cook County records say that it has four apartments. Crews immediately went into search and rescue, and fire suppression mode.

The children were pronounced dead at local hospitals, while the adult was pronounced on scene. One firefighter suffered a minor injury and was taken to a hospital.

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