Excerpts from nbcchicago.com:
A 6-year-old boy died in a fire Wednesday night in the Altgeld Gardens neighborhood. A neighbor noticed the blaze in the Far South Side row house in the 13000 block of South Evans Avenue about 9:45 p.m. and rescued four children before firefighters arrived. But the neighbor was unable to enter the second-floor bedroom where the fire started.
Firefighters quickly extinguished the flames and searched the room’s top bunkbed, where they found the 6-year-old unresponsive. The 6-year-old was rushed from the home to Roseland Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The fire appeared to begin in the bunkbed where the child was found. But it’s still unclear what caused the fire.
The boy’s four siblings — ages 1, 4, 5, and 13 — were uninjured, according to police, who said the children were left home without adults. The house had working smoke detectors.
State welfare officials are investigating the child’s death. They had prior contact with the boy’s family.
