Family believes boy hid during fatal Prospect Heights fire
Alex Jedd was the type of 3-year-old whose inquisitive nature allowed him to figure out things quickly. He learned to open nearly any door or window shortly after he could walk.
But, possibly overcome by fear, he could not make his escape from the fire that took his life Saturday morning in his Prospect Heights home.
Jedd was pronounced dead at 4:12 a.m. Saturday at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights. Family members said they believed the boy died from smoke inhalation. Autopsy results were not available from the Cook County medical examiner's office as of Sunday afternoon.
"It looked like he was just asleep," said Geordi Smith, Jedd's great aunt. "He didn't have a burn on him."
Family speculated Sunday that Alex Jedd panicked when the flames began to consume the house. A gap in the home's sectional sofa was his favorite hiding place, family said.
While Jedd hid, his father, Mark, frantically tried to call to his son while scooping up his 11-month-old daughter, Rhianna, to whisk her to safety. But once Mark Jedd got his baby daughter to safety, the flames and heat blocked his way back into the home.
"He's burned all over," Smith said of Mark Jedd's condition. "He's got smoke inhalation. Alex was his whole world. I mean, that boy was his entire life. The charring above the windows and doors, he just couldn't get back into the house. Mark is such a great dad, and now he may not live. And I don't think he will live if he finds out Alex is dead."
Smith said Mark Jedd and his daughter are being treated for their injuries at the Loyola University Health System Burn Center. Mark Jedd is in critical condition. Rhianna Jedd is in serious condition, Smith said.
Jedd and his wife do not live together. The children's mother, Brittany Jedd, was not at the home at the time of the fire, Smith said.
"She's not handling this really well as you would expect," Smith said of the children's mother. "She wasn't there, and there's tremendous guilt with that. She's lost her son, and her daughter is receiving intensive care at the hospital."
Prospect Heights Fire Capt. Alan Grzeslo said Sunday the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
The fire was reported at 3:24 a.m. at 202 S. Maple Lane. The one-story, 55-year-old house is in an older neighborhood that isn't equipped with fire hydrants, so water had to be trucked to the scene, Prospect Heights Fire Capt. Mark Oeltgen said.
Crews from 11 area departments battled the blaze, which was contained to the house and under control within 15 minutes, firefighters said.
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<li><a href="/story/?id=387535">Toddler killed, 2 injured in Prospect Heights house fire <span class="date">[6/12/10]</span></a></li>
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