Woman Found Dead After South Side Apartment Fire
(CBS) --A woman was found dead after a fire in an apartment complex in the Chatham neighborhood early Sunday morning.
Firefighters say the flames started on the third floor of the building near 79th and Maryland. It is not clear if the woman had died as a result of the fire.
Firefighters say the received a call about the fire at around 1:18 a.m. and when the fire was put out, investigators say they discovered the body of a woman. They believe about a dozen people were evacuated.
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It's believed the fire started in a stairwell. The cause has not yet been determined.
Residents say there were two fires in the courtyard building on Maryland Avenue near 79th Street.
A resident, Rashad Brooks, says his fiancee smelled smoke - and he ran downstairs and was able to put the first fire out.
"We go back to sleep and she noticed a smell again. But this time when we came out, the opposite building was on fire."
It was after that second fire when firefighters found the body of a woman.
Brooks says she was a single mother.
"Everybody in the neighborhood knew her as a person that was fun, loving and very generous."
Brooks and other residents say that in October they had been given notice by the building's relatively new landlords that they'd have to vacate.
There were only a handful of residents left - and they say the landlords had turned off the hot water and lights.
