Two Found Dead After Condo Fire In Glendale Heights; Child, Police Officer, 3 Firefighters Injured
GLENDALE HEIGHTS, Ill. (CBS) -- Two people were found dead, and a child was injured, in a condo fire Monday morning in west suburban Glendale Heights.
Three firefighters and a police officer also were injured in the fire. Numerous residents were displaced.
Police said, shortly after 10 a.m., officers responded to the Waters Edge Condominiums complex on the 100 block of Dunteman Drive, where they saw a fire in one of the condo buildings.
Video showed a wall of fire consuming the building.
The Bloomingdale Fire Department and other neighboring fire departments responded and extinguished the fire.
Two people were found dead, but a cause of death has not yet been determined. Their names have not been released. Police said a child also was injured, and was taken to the hospital. The child's condition was not available.
One police officer and three firefighters also were hospitalized with injuries from the fire, according to police.
The fire started in one condo and spread. More than one condo was damaged in the fire, and Glendale Heights Police Department Community Outreach Specialists are providing assistance to the families that were displaced.
Residents said it was clear that the fire was massive from the number of responding agencies.
"Then I saw the fire department and everybody just like running like something was going down, and I saw other residents fleeing, I was like, what's going on? So when I stepped outside and when I looked over, I saw right away that something – it wasn't just a regular fire," said David Madera, who lives in the complex. "I mean, it was bad. It was black-smoke-fill-the-air kind of bad."
Neighbors knew from the intensity of the fire that it was serious. But they worried for the families living in the building as the fire jumped to additional units.
"Come to find out it was kids in there, and there was screaming from the inside," said resident Darius Jones.
As fire crews worked diligently to knock down the fire, neighbors said before crews arrived, they heard loud noises – possibly an explosion from the unit.
"I got to hear pops and pops and pops, you know, like something sparking in there was flammable," Jones said.
Once the fire was out, the devastation was clearly visible, but the deaths were of course most disheartening part. It was not clear if the victims died from the fire or something else, but forensic investigators were among those sifting through debris Monday night.
"I was hoping that wasn't going to be the case, and again, I recently also just found out that that happened, and it's very unfortunate," Madera said.
