A 1-year-old child died and four other people, including the toddler`s pregnant mother and older brother, were injured Tuesday when a kitchen fire swept the top floor of their Near North Side apartment building.
The other victim of the blaze was critically injured when he jumped from a fifth-floor window of the five-story building at 423 W. Blackhawk St. and struck his head on the pavement.
Dead on arrival at Children`s Memorial Hospital was Brian Jefferson. His mother, Charlene Jefferson, 21, was reported in critical condition at Cook County Hospital with burns over 20 percent of her body and suffering from smoke inhalation.
A hospital spokeswoman said the woman is 9 months` pregnant. Her 4-year-old son, Willis, was later upgraded to serious from critical condition at the same hospital, suffering from smoke inhalation.
In critical condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital was Byron Reeves, 23, who, according to witnesses, was ”on fire” when he jumped in his shorts from a top-floor window and struck the pavement 50 feet below.
”Byron was blazing when he hit,” said Willie Calhoun, 34, who lives on the second floor of the building. ”He was all burned. He broke his head on the sidewalk. There wasn`t much we could do.”
A 28-year-old Chicago firefighter, Richard Pacocha of Engine Co. 22, suffered smoke inhalation while fighting the blaze. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial, where he was reported in fair condition.
Thomas Sheppard, a Fire Department spokesman at the scene, said the fire was reported about 11 a.m. and struck out 20 minutes later. Several ambulances were called when it was reported that people were threatening to jump from the upper floor.
Smoke detectors were operating in the building, Sheppard said, and alerted at least one resident to the blaze. The cause of the fire, which began near a kitchen range, was still under investigation.
Calhoun said he first became aware of the fire when he ”heard a crash and saw a friend hollering from the street below.”
Calhoun said he ran outside and joined about 15 people holding blankets under apartment windows where residents were about to jump.
Michael Dunn, of 421 W. Blackhawk St., said, ”We heard screams. Hollers. You could smell the smoke. You knew something was wrong. When we ran outside we could see the flames. People were hanging out the windows.”
Dunn said that several men, most of them passersby, used quilts to catch two small children who jumped from the fifth floor.
More Top Picks Best Snow Roof Rakes
`They (the kids) were just screaming for help,” said Dunn. ”We coerced the babies to jump. We said: `Come on babies, please jump. We`re going to catch you.` ”
Calhoun said the injured 4-year-old dangled from a top-floor ledge several minutes before letting go and falling into the makeshift safety net. Calhoun said he held the child inside his coat until paramedics arrived. Meanwhile, rescuers rushed to the other side of the building to give assistance.
Dunn said several occupants of the building escaped the flames by fleeing to the roof.
Some residents criticized a city utility crew that refused their pleas to use the extension arm and bucket from their truck to help in the rescue effort.
However, a spokeswoman for the Department of Streets and Sanitation said the Bureau of Electricity crew, which was working a block away, had been among those who reported the fire. They wanted to help more but realized the extension arm couldn`t reach beyond the third floor, she said.