Cause of deadly Chicago fire unclear
Investigators were unable to pinpoint the cause of a Chicago apartment fire that killed four children, although it likely was caused "by a human hand," fire officials said Tuesday.
The children died Monday when a fire that began in a second-floor apartment shortly after 3 a.m. raced up a stairwell, trapping them in their bedrooms and forcing their mother and her boyfriend to leap from a third-story window, Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said.
He told the Chicago Sun-Times that the fire was caused by an open flame in the living room of the second-floor apartment, but investigators were unable to find an exact source because the room had no stove, space heater or electrical line.
"It was most likely caused by a human hand, but we don't know whether it was accidental or intentional," Langford said.
The man who lived in the apartment where the fire started told the newspaper he had complained to building management that his front door did not lock and that the stove recently was smoking.
Langford said there was no evidence of working smoke detectors in the affected units. City records indicate the building has failed numerous inspections in the past nine years.
Two girls, 15-year-old Carliyisia Coleman and 7-year-old Eri'ana Smith, were found in a closet; the two boys, 13-year-old Carlvon Clark and 12-year-old Shamarian Coleman, were found in a bedroom, Langford said.
The adults were taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in nearby Oak Lawn in critical condition.