Neighbor Helps Rescue 4-Year-Old From Fire In Auburn Gresham
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Three children were hurt in a house fire Wednesday night in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood, one of them a 4-year-old girl who suffered burns on 40 percent of her body.
CBS 2's Brad Edwards reports the three children were taken to the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital after they were injured in a fire in the 1000 block of West 76th Street. Two of the children were in good condition at the time, one was in critical condition.
However, the girl in critical condition – identified by her father as 4-year-old Amya Anderson – was expected to survive, thanks to the help of a neighbor.
The fire started around 7:25 p.m. in a bedroom on the top floor of the three-story apartment building, and was contained to that room.
A neighbor came to Amya's aid when her brother screamed for help.
"One of the kids came down and said that his little sister was on fire," Clyde Harden said. "So I dashed out the house, went upstairs, and looked at the bed, it was burning, and the little girl had already jumped out of the bed, and I grabbed the little girl."
Harden said he couldn't take credit for saving the girl's life.
"I believe that she was sheltered by God already," he said. "Somebody was there for her."
Fire officials said Amya suffered burns on 40 percent of her body. A teenager also suffered burns trying to put out the flames on Amya's body.
The cause of the fire had not been determined as of late Wednesday, but it was possible one of the children might have been playing with matches.
