Disabled Elderly Man Killed In West Pullman Fire
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An elderly disabled man died and a Chicago firefighter was injured early Wednesday in a house fire in the West Pullman neighborhood.
The fire started around 3:15 a.m. in a 1 ½-story house at 118th and Perry. One man said he escaped the blaze by jumping off the roof. Two others escaped before firefighters arrived.
As firefighters attacked the flames from the ground and the roof, they learned an elderly disabled man was trapped inside.
Firefighters tried to get to the man, but the stairs were burned out, and then a firefighter fell through a floor, prompting a mayday call.
"He fell through to the basement. They got him out. It was a matter of about eight feet. He walked on his own, and he went into the ambulance, and was able to be transported," Fire Department Deputy District Chief Michael Carbone said.
A mayday call went out after a firefighter fell through a floor trying to rescue a 79-year-ol disabled man who was trapped inside. The firefighter was not seriously injured, and crews eventually pulled the disabled man out of the building.
He was conscious when an ambulance took him to the hospital, but he later was pronounced dead.
Relatives identified the victim as Jimmy Shearrill, and said his friends and neighbors knew him as "Uncle Jim." They described him as a jokester who also laid down the rules around the neighborhood.
"I got a phone call from my daughter. She was hysterical, like, 'It's a fire next door, and Uncle Jim is stuck.' So I'm like, 'I'm on my way right now.' So I ran here, and I just seen flames coming from the back of the house. I was like, 'Oh, my God.'" said his grandniece, Denise Leverett.
Family friend Nena Branch described the victim as "a very loving person."
"He cared for everyone. Everyone in this neighborhood knew him for years," she said.
The injured firefighter was taken to the hospital for evaluation, and was released later Wednesday morning.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
