Mother, 3-year-old daughter dead in Christmas Eve fire in Ottawa; teen hospitalized
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A mother and her 3-year-old daughter are dead, and a teenage boy is in the hospital, after a fire in the early morning on Christmas Eve in far LaSalle County.
Around 2:10 a.m. Saturday, Ottawa firefighters responded to a report of people trapped in a fire in a two-unit apartment building in the 1500 block of Sycamore Street, according to the Ottawa Fire Department.
When crews arrived on the scene, they spotted flames coming from a window on the northwest corner of the building. Both the kitchen and living room were on fire, and during a search of the apartment, firefighters found a mother and child unresponsive in a bedroom.
Arthelia Brewer, 44, and her 3-year-old daughter, Melani Embry, were taken to OSF St. Elizabeth's Hospital, where they were pronounced dead, according to the Ottawa Fire Department and the LaSalle County Coroner. Preliminary autopsy findings determined both died of smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning due to the fire.
A teenage boy who escaped the home on his own was taken to OSF St. Elizabeth's to be treated for minor injuries and smoke inhalation. His name has not been released.
The fire was extinguished shortly after 3 a.m. Saturday. The cause of the fire is under investigation, but Ottawa Fire Department officials said it appeared to be accidental.
