Woman injured in Rolling Meadows fire Friday dies

This story has been edited to correct the spelling of fire victim Karen Ann Braschko's name.

The Rolling Meadows woman who sustained critical injuries in a house fire early Friday succumbed to those injuries and died on Monday.

Fire Chief Terry Valentino said they were informed by the Cook County medical examiner's office on Monday that Karen Ann Braschko, 80, had died.

The medical examiner's office determined Braschko had died from burns sustained in the house fire. Valentino said the fire was believed to be caused by a careless use of smoking materials.

Emergency crews were dispatched to the house at 4:44 a.m. Friday after a 911 operator got a call from a woman coughing, before the phone disconnected, authorities said. The woman and her 45-year-old son were in the front yard when firefighters arrived. With obvious burns to her body, she was rushed to the hospital. Her son was treated and released.

Valentino said he doesn't know how the fire started specifically and said the investigation into the fatal fire is closed.

The house is uninhabitable and has been boarded up.

Initially authorities reported that Braschko was 90, but Valentino said Tuesday that she was, in fact, 80.