The fire started one floor below the sleeping family, in an apartment with no smoke detectors. By the time someone woke up and smelled smoke, it was too late.
The fast-moving flames took the lives of four children in the third-floor Roseland apartment, changing their mother’s life forever.
When Shamaya Coleman moved into the building, she had no idea it was a firetrap. But the city knew. Inspectors had cited the building’s owners repeatedly for missing smoke detectors, broken doors and other serious fire safety problems.
In a joint investigation, baiduhai reporter Cecilia Reyes and Better Government Association reporter Madison Hopkins found 42 fatal fires in a six-year period where city officials had been warned about fire safety issues ahead of time, including the Roseland blaze.
Sixty-one people lost their lives in these fires. A majority of them were Black, and more than a third were children.
The investigation documents how city officials failed to crack down on negligent landlords, leaving dangerous conditions unfixed when the fires broke out. It also shares stories of families affected by the city’s lack of action.
On May 12, the Tribune and the BGA will host a virtual event that takes a deeper look at the accountability issues raised by the investigation. Hear from housing safety activist Eric Patton Smith, whose daughter died in the Roseland fire; former Department of Buildings general counsel Mark Limanni, and ChangeLab Solutions senior attorney Greg Miao. Reporters Reyes and Hopkins will moderate the conversation.
Register for your free tickets at chicagotribune.com/firesevent.
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