A young boy is clinging to life, and authorities are still searching for answers after a fire injured a mother and her three children at an apartment building on Chicago’s Far South Side Friday.
The fire broke out in the 12100 block of South Indiana Avenue in the city’s West Pullman neighborhood on Friday. Flames quickly engulfed a second-floor apartment in the building, and neighbors are telling horrific stories about how the family was calling for help during the blaze.
“He came out of the house literally on fire,” one neighbor said.
In all, four people were hurt in the blaze, including a young boy, who suffered burns on 90 percent of his body, according to authorities. That boy is being treated at Comer Children’s Hospital, and although he is in extremely critical condition, he is still clinging to life, according to Chicago fire officials.
Authorities have not released a potential cause for the blaze, but believe that the apartment did not have working smoke detectors.
As the family fled from the apartment, neighbors rushed in to help, with some wrapping a wet blanket around the badly-burned boy.
“It was like he was in shock,” neighbor Greg Williams said.
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Williams ran back into the building to make sure no one else was inside.
“You could feel the heat,” he said. “It was coming out of the back room. By the time it got to the front, the flames were in the front room and kitchen.”
The family’s mother suffered burns to her arms, and two other children were taken to area hospitals to be treated for smoke inhalation.
A firefighter was also injured, and was treated at an area hospital for shoulder and neck pain.
Fire officials are continuing to investigate the blaze.
