Visit to old home turns into rescue

A woman on her way to visit her childhood home on Elgin's east side saved a mother and her young daughter from a house fire Thursday morning.

Nancy Roth was driving south along St. Charles Street at 10:15 a.m. when she noticed smoke coming from a home on the 800 block.

"It wasn't coming from the windows or the chimney. It was billowing from the eaves," said Roth, 34, who now lives in Las Vegas and hasn't been back to Elgin in 16 years. "I thought it was strange, so I went and screamed to see if everyone was OK."

A woman with severely burned feet was carrying a toddler out of the house, said Roth, who grabbed the child while another passer-by, Jonathan Vicencio, 38, of Lakemoor assisted the woman down the front steps.

The mother initially was taken to Sherman Hospital for treatment, while the 2-year-old girl was evaluated at the scene, Elgin Assistant Fire Chief Rudy Horist said. The woman later was transferred to the Loyola Medical Center in Maywood, though it is unknown whether she was taken for burns or other injuries, said Elgin Battalion Chief Tim Michaels.

Meraida Figueroa, a neighbor who was caring for the child after the fire, said the mother had apparently run outside for a breath and then re-entered the home to save her child.

"She said it was too dark with smoke and she had to run out to get fresh air," Figueroa said. "I think that's when she burned her feet."

Fire crews were called to the home at 10:17 a.m. and arrived four minutes later, Horist said. The fire mostly was contained to the kitchen. Fire investigators suspect the blaze was an electrical fire, Elgin Batallion Chief Tim Michaels said.

The rest of the two-story house was damaged by smoke and heat, Horist said.