A house fire in a suburb of Chicago left three individuals dead this week, while also injuring a fourth person.
Emergency crews rushed to a two-story residence in Zion, Illinois, which is located approximately 48 miles from Chicago, on late Tuesday night after multiple reports of smoke and visible flames, according to a statement from the Zion Fire Rescue Department. Officials confirmed that the dispatch was initiated after several callers contacted 911 to report signs of a fire at the property, prompting an immediate response from local firefighters.
House Fire Deaths
Firefighters entered the home and discovered three individuals inside, all of whom were quickly removed from the property. Despite efforts to revive them, none of the victims could be resuscitated, according to fire officials. Authorities believe that everyone who had been inside the residence at the time of the fire has been located, and there are no reports of additional occupants unaccounted for.
Battalion Chief Rocco Campanella confirmed that the three victims were adults, though no further details about their identities or circumstances had been released by Wednesday morning.
A neighbor was taken to the hospital after suffering from smoke inhalation, according to the Zion Fire Rescue Department. Officials did not provide further details on the individual's condition but confirmed the person had been exposed to smoke while emergency crews responded to the scene.
What Witnesses Said
While speaking with the local news station, WLS-TV on Wednesday, neighbor George Gregory said that he heard a loud sound and looked out of his window on Tuesday evening.
"All I could see was like it was lit up in the back. I said that must have been a lightning strike or something," Gregory told the local news station.
High winds complicated efforts to contain the fire, significantly slowing the work of firefighters on the scene. Crews battled the flames for nearly four hours before fully extinguishing the blaze, according to fire officials. Investigators are still working to determine the cause of the fire, though no preliminary findings have been released.
Similar Fire
In June, six people were killed and several others were injured following a house fire in Newnan, Georgia.
The inferno broke out around 5 a.m. local time and covered about 50 percent of a single-family house on the 1300 block on Macedonia Road in Newnan. Fire was coming out of the roof, according to Robby Flanagan, Coweta Fire chief.
"We were able to pull six victims out of the house," Flanagan said. "The six people we rescued are deceased. "It was a tough morning."
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
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