Fire victim a devoted mom to special-needs daughter, Palatine neighbors say
Lois Demos wasn't one to wallow in self-pity.
She knew tragedy. Her husband Edward died of a heart attack in their Palatine home at age 58. Her daughter, born premature, has severe mental and physical disabilities.
"She had a lot on her plate, but she always had a smile on her face," her neighbor Linda Kuzmiak said.
Being an around-the-clock caregiver to her daughter, Lindsey, - "that was her life," Kuzmiak said.
Lois and Lindsey were "so attached," she said. They went everywhere together - bingo, birthday parties, church choir.
Mother and daughter both were found on the second floor of their tri-level home Friday night, trapped by an "overpowering" fire," Kuzmiak said.
Firefighters pulled Lois, 63, unconscious near a bedroom and critically burned, from the home in the 100 block of South Oak Street. She later was pronounced dead at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights.
Her daughter, 34, was found semi-conicious near a living room. She remained in stable condition Saturday, receiving treatment for second-degree burns and smoke inhalation at Loyola Medical Center in Maywood, Kuzmiak said.
"This is a nightmare," Kuzmiak said. "I know the whole block is grieving."
Lois was a kind, compassionate neighbor and devoted mother of Lindsey and an adult son, Eddie Jr., Kuzmiak said.
When Kuzmiak had back surgery, Lois visited her mom at a Palatine independent living community, did her laundry and played bingo with her.
When Kuzmiak turned 65 and shrugged off celebrating, Lois organized a surprise birthday party.
When another neighbor was hospitalized, Lois phoned Kuzmiak: "Do you want to go see Anita tonight?"
"She just did everything with her heart," Kuzmiak said.
Kuzmiak was watching television in her home when the fire broke out just after 8 p.m. Neighbors desperately tried to get into the home - one suffered a deep cut kicking out a window - but were forced out each time by thick smoke.
Two of them injured trying to help were taken to St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates, where they initially were listed in stable condition. They were back home Saturday.
Fire officials said the blaze does not appear to be suspicious, but rather "a tragically horrible accident." Local and state fire investigators were still at the scene Saturday morning trying to determine the exact cause.
It took three dozen firefighters to bring the fire under control within 15 minutes after the first crews arrived, officials said.
The house sustained heavy fire damage and is uninhabitable.
Kuzmiak is hopeful Lindsey Demos, who she said has multiple sclerosis, will recover, but she worries about her grieving the loss of two parents.
"It's just tragic - it really is," she said.
Staff writers Jake Griffin and Sara Hooker contributed to this report.