The mother of a 4-year-old boy who was severely burned after someone set fire to a garbage can and the flames spread to the home where he was sleeping says she just wants the person who set the fire to be caught.
Anne Roe said she just wishes she could take away her son’s pain. The young boy was critically wounded with second degree burns to 40 percent of his body after flames from an arson fire sparked a blaze at his home in the city’s Albany Park neighborhood earlier this month.
“He’s got his face wrapped up, arms, torso,” she said. “I’ve seen his body, his face and chest was burned.”
Nearly everyone sleeping inside the coach house in the 4300 block of Drake Avenue managed to exit the home unharmed, except for Tyler Roe, who had to be rescued by firefighters.
Tyler remains at Comer Children’s Hospital in a medically induced coma, his mother said, but doctors are hopeful.
“I just thank God my son is still here,” Anne Roe said.
Anne Roe said while she is focused on her son’s recovery, she wants the person responsible for his pain to be found.
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“I just want whoever set this fire to be caught,” she said.
Police, in a community alert issued last week, said someone appeared to have set fire to materials inside two garbage cans on the block. The incidents took place within two minutes of each other, police said.
Police have asked residents to be aware of suspicious activity in the area, particularly in alleys. They’ve also asked that anyone who may have surveillance footage from the scene make a copy for investigators.
Anyone with information about the fires is asked to call (312) 746-7618.
A GoFundMe page has also been set up to help pay for Tyler’s medical care and replace the family's belongings that were lost in the blaze.
