Chicago Girl, 5, Dies After Bunk Bed Becomes Engulfed in Flames the Day After Christmas
The Chicago Fire Department said the blaze was caused by “careless use of smoking materials"
A 5-year-old girl has died after a fire tore through an apartment building in Chicago one day after Christmas.
Officials said an ambulance crew spotted the fire consuming the multi-unit building on Marquette Road while returning from a run around 7:15 a.m. local time on Tuesday, according to CBS affiliate WBBM-TV and ABC affiliate WLS-TV.
Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said the girl was found dead inside a bunk bed in the top-floor apartment a short time later, according to The Chicago Sun-Times.
The bed was “pretty much consumed” with fire, which was quickly extinguished, Langford added.
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Officials said the child’s father, who lives in the apartment with his family, was transported to University of Chicago Medical Center with “minor burns,” according to the Sun-Times.
The building’s owner told WBBM-TV that the father attempted to save his daughter’s life.
"It's rough on the family, of course, and even the guys that responded," said Ferman, "just looking in their eyes coming out, knowing that they couldn't get there in time."
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Deputy Fire Commissioner Marc Ferman and building owner Elliott Williams said the 5-year-old girl’s mother and two siblings, an infant and a 6-year-old, also live in the apartment, according to the Sun-Times.
The CFD said the blaze was caused by “careless use of smoking materials.”
Officials were initially looking into whether a child was using a lighter when the fire began, according to WLS-TV and the Sun-Times.
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“We just want to reinforce and monitor children playing with matches,” Ferman said. “We always want to remind our kids not to play with matches — it’s always a dangerous situation.”
A memorial for the child killed in the blaze has begun outside the charred apartment building, per WBBM-TV and WLS-TV.
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