2-year-old dead, 11 displaced in Roseland apartment fire
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A toddler is dead after a fire Wednesday morning in an apartment building in the Roseland neighborhood.
Chicago firefighters responded to the fire on the second floor of a courtyard apartment building at 11035 S. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. around 8 a.m.
According to the Chicago Fire Department, there were heavy flames upon arrival.
Still and box 11035 King Drive. Courtyard building heavy fire blowing out. Fire now out. One child found after extensive search. Resuscitation attempt failed. Child said to be toddler pic.twitter.com/nfa4RfQxED
— Chicago Fire Media (@CFDMedia) May 25, 2022
A 2-year-old girl, identified as Kailey Curry, was found unresponsive after an extensive search of the building and attempts to resuscitate the child failed, according to the Fire Department.
Fire officials said it's unclear if Curry was alone when the fire broke out -- but she was found alone.
Curry was taken to Comers Children's Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
CBS 2's Sabrina Franza spoke with members of the girl's daycare who brought balloons and bears in a growing memorial at the apartment. They said that had it not been for this tragedy she would have been with them today.
From a distance, family came by to salvage anything they could from this apartment, teary-eyed, carrying framed photos that survived.
We're told that it took exceptional effort to pull her out of there and that there was so much debris covering her.
There were no smoke detectors in her unit -- though there were others in the building that the Chicago Fire Department says wasn't working.
The management company of the building wouldn't tell us anything about their smoke detectors, but they did say this:
"We are dismayed and saddened to learn of a fatal fire reported at an apartment building we manage in the Roseland neighborhood and are actively monitoring the situation as we await a full report from the Chicago Fire Department," said WPD Management.
The 2-year-old girl was the only one hurt in this blaze.
Investigators are still working to figure out what caused the fire to start, but the Chicago Fire Department says they believe it started with electrical cords.
Officials believe the cords were underneath layers of something that when smothered, caused it to overheat and burst into flames.
Eleven others were also displaced because of the fire. Red cross was on the scene assisting them.
Further information was not immediately available. OFI is investigating.