Four members of the same family, including a 13-year-old boy, have been identified after a fire tore through a townhome in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighbourhood.
The victims were named by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office as Mariza Garcia Jimenez, 48; her son Valentino Jozeph Vallejo, 13; her mother, Maria Piedad Jimenez de Garcia, 69; and her other son, Francisco Rey Vallejo, 24.
Firefighters were called to the 7000 block of North Paulina Street at about 4.15am on Thursday. The Chicago Fire Department said the blaze was confined to one property in a four-unit building.
The family had lived in the home since 2005, according to local reports. Relatives said smoke detectors and a fire extinguisher were present, while the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Three people from neighbouring homes were forced to leave temporarily. One pet was also reported to have died.
A neighbour said he was woken by cries for help as the fire spread.
“I woke up off my couch to people screaming for help,” he said. “I heard ‘ow’ and ‘help’ and couldn’t exactly determine what it was at first.”
He also described hearing glass breaking during the blaze.
