Victim in fatal fire near Spring Grove ID’d as 86-year-old woman

The victim in a Spring Grove-area house fire has been identified as DonnaLee Saleh by the Lake County Coroner’s Office.

Saleh, 86, resided in the home on North Sixth Avenue near Spring Grove and Fox Lake. She was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.

Firefighters were called to the home about noon Friday, Dec. 19, for a report of a residential house fire in the Lotus Woods neighborhood.

A resident there, a 52-year-old man who was on the second floor when the fire broke out, attempted to rescue Saleh and a 55-year-old woman in the house. But “he was unable to due to the heat and smoke,” the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

Upon arrival, firefighters from the Fox Lake Fire Protection District were able to get the two women out. Despite rescue and lifesaving efforts, Saleh was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the coroner’s office.

A preliminary autopsy found her death was consistent with smoke inhalation and thermal injuries. The results of toxicology testing, including carbon monoxide levels, are pending, according to the release.

The man had minor injuries, according to the release.

The younger woman suffered critical injuries and is being treated in the burn unit at an area hospital, fire officials said.

Lake County Sheriff’s fire investigators, the Illinois State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Fox Lake Fire Protection District continue to investigate the cause and origin of the fire.