Woman in Arlington Heights fire killed self, authorities say

A woman who died in a burning Arlington Heights apartment early Thursday morning committed suicide, authorities said Friday.

The 36-year-old woman specifically died as a result of carbon monoxide intoxication, inhalation of smoke and soot and multiple incised wounds, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Arlington Heights police Sgt. Rick Kappelman said the death investigation was still working to determine the order of events and the cause of the fire, but that the woman’s incision wounds were determined to be self-inflicted.

Firefighters responded to the fire on the fourth floor of the Hancock Square apartment building on the 200 block of North Dunton Avenue just before 4 a.m. Thursday.

Two police officers were treated at Northwest Community Hospital for smoke inhalation and released the same day. A firefighter was also treated and released for a knee injury.

Investigators determined that the apartment had working smoke detectors.

The woman was reportedly “unconscious and unresponsive” when police arrived, but pronounced dead at the hospital.

Other residents of the building were forced to temporarily evacuate, but were allowed to return later Thursday morning.