Husband dead, wife of 64 years in 'very critical' condition after West Pullman house fire
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Fire crews Friday night were working to figure out what started a fire in West Pullman that left a man dead and his wife of 64 years fighting for her life.
The husband and wife – both in their 90s – were trapped. Their family told CBS 2's Jermont Terry they hope the wife pulls through.
As workers boarded up the house at 11649 S. Aberdeen St., family members tried collecting anything salvageable from the deadly fire.
"My heart is broken," said the couple's nephew, Sidney Johnson, "and I can just imagine what they went through."
Johnson's aunt and uncle, Clarence and Clementine Johnson, were trapped inside their house when the fire broke out around 3 p.m.
The couple was in their 90s and had been married for 64 years. They lived alone in their West Pullman home for decades.
They were actually very independent," said Sidney Johnson, "and they were getting around - they would go to the grocery store themselves - very independent to be the age they were."
The couple loved their community, and more importantly, each other. Neighbors looked out for the Johnsons, and the Johnsons did the same.
"My parents passed away, and they were like my parents," neighbor Lytandris Taylor said of the Johnosons.
Taylor was home when the Johnsons' house caught fire.
"My daughters kept saying, 'Mom, it looks there's so much fog outside," she said.
Ring video shows when Taylor opened her front door. The reality of what was happening on the block hit hard.
"We all ran outside, and smoke was coming out of the roof of the house," Taylor said.
Firefighters found Mr. Johnson not breathing in the basement. He was rushed to OSF Little Company of Mary Medical Center in Evergreen Park, but he did n
Mrs. Johnson was also found unconscious inside the house. Family members said she had burns on 40 percent of her body and was rushed to the University of Chicago Medical Center after being resuscitated.
"It's a sad sight," said Sidney Johnson.
What started the fire is under investigation. But the cause will do very little to ease the pain family members are feeling.
"Oh man - it's just said," Sidney Johnson said.