Boy, 11, Killed In Little Village Fire
Updated 08/06/12 - 5:30 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago firefighters made several rescues last night, but were not able to save an 11-year old boy from a fire in the Little Village neighborhood.
As WBBM Newsradio's Bernie Tafoya reports, the fire broke out around 10:30 p.m. Sunday in the boy's room, in a 2 1/2-story brick apartment building the 2400 block of South Lawndale Avenue.
The boy was identified as Sergio Pedroza, 11. According to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The boy's uncle said he suffered from severe autism, and could only say a few words.. Initial reports indicated the boy used a wheelchair, but his family said that is not true. Firefighters found no wheelchair in the boy's room, nor was one recovered from the scene.
"The companies went to work with an aggressive interior attack and interior search, and unfortunately, we have a child on the first floor apartment in the room of the fire origin that didn't make it," said Fire Deputy Chief Steve Chikerotis.
Four adults in the home were rescued by firefighters. The home did have smoke detectors, but they were not working.
Two adults were brought down ladders from the second floor, and one of them was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition. The others did not want to go to the hospital.
The fire was out by 11:16 p.m., but investigators remained on the scene as late as 1 a.m., the Sun-Times Media Wire reported.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
