The Chicago Tribune has an article identifying the deceased from the Arlington Heights fire on Wednesday.
Authorities said today that arson has been ruled out in the deaths of an elderly disabled woman, her live-in caregiver and the caregiver’s daughter, all three of whom died in an Arlington Heights house fire Wednesday. Officials said the fire started in the first-floor kitchen near the back of a property in the 300 block of South Dunton Avenue.
Investigators found a smoke detector with no batteries in it on the second floor of the home belonging to Doris Miller, 93, said Arlington Heights police Cmdr. Mike Hernandez. [He] also said no other smoke detectors were found in the house.
Tetiana Krych, 62, was Miller’s live-in caregiver and Krych’s daughter, Svitlana Kandelis, 40, of the 1500 block of Tahoe Circle in Wheeling, was visiting for the night, said Hernandez. All three women were pronounced dead at the scene in what has been ruled an accidental fire, Hernandez said. The victims died of smoke inhalation and “thermal injuries,” including tissue burns and heat-related injuries, he said.
The most extensive damage was to the back of the three-bedroom house. One corner of the second floor collapsed just as firefighters got to the scene, said Fire Chief Glenn Ericksen.
[Firefighters] first spotted Miller in a downstairs bedroom before removing her through a window. Krych was found in the downstairs dining room area and Kandelis was found near the front entrance, Hernandez said.
“A lot of people try to do many things (in a fire),” he said. “I would like to think so, that (Kandelis) was trying to make her way through the front door, but that’s speculation.” Miller was physically immobile and did not have any family nearby.
The exact cause of the kitchen fire hasn’t been determined, but arson and foul play have been ruled out, officials said.
