'I Wanted To Jump In': Man Says He Tried To Save 4-Year-Old From Fatal Aurora Fire
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An Aurora family is grieving after losing their four-year-old daughter in a townhome fire Wednesday. A man who was there when the fire broke out says he tried to help, but the home was engulfed in flames.
The family says they can't bring themselves to talk about it yet.
"I was probably seven or eight blocks away, and you could see the large plume of smoke from the fire," said Juan Rodriguez.
The smoke has cleared, but when Rodriguez looks across the street he sees more than charred siding and boarded windows.
"She said, 'My baby! My baby! My baby!" he said.
He still sees the flames and the kind of images he wants to forget, but can't.
"I couldn't sleep last night," he said. "I've got this shadow right in front of my face."
Rodriguez says he tried to help, but there was no way to get inside with fire filling the unit.
A 25-year old woman was able to get out with her five-month-old, but her four-year-old daughter didn't.
"I wanted to jump in," he said. "The fire was growing so much I couldn't. Almost got in when she told me about the baby, four years old, inside there."
The victims were airlifted to Loyola Hospital.
Fire Marshal Javan Cross says the fire started in the first floor living room. It took more than 40 firefighters to get it out. The home was left uninhabitable.
Cross says tragedies like these are hard on everyone.
"The majority of us, as firefighters, have children," he said. "It definitely touches a nerve with us."
It's still unclear what started the fire. Officials say they're not sure when investigators will have that answer.
The four-year-old's aunt created a GoFundMe to benefit the family.
