100-Year-Old Wilmette Woman Dies After Condo Fire
WILMETTE, Ill. (STMW) -- A 100-year-old woman was killed after a fire started in the living room of her condominium early Saturday in north suburban Wilmette.
Crews were called to the blaze at multi-unit condo building in the 600 block of Ridge Road at 2:48 a.m., according to a release from the Wilmette Fire Department.
Firefighters rescued the woman after forcing their way into her second-floor unit, where officials believe the fire began, the release said.
Opal Reifenberg, 100, was taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where she was pronounced dead at 10:15 p.m. Saturday, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office said.
She would have turned 101 in early August, according to the medical examiner's office.
Four other people who live in the building were already outside talking to police when firefighters arrived, and were not hurt, fire officials said. They were temporarily displaced until the building could be cleared of smoke odors.
Authorities believe the flames started in the living room of Reifenberg's unit, but the cause remains under investigation.
The fire did not spread to other units, but caused roughly $300,000 in damage, the release said.
Crews from Winnetka, Evanston, Glenview, Northfield, Skokie, Morton Grove, Highland Park and Lincolnwood assisted in the response.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
