Mothers called 'gentle' and 'selfless' identified as two killed in Vernon Hills apartment fire

The two people killed early Sunday after fire broke out in a Vernon Hills apartment building were two mothers who are being called "gentle" and "selfless," and one of them had rescued others from the fire first, said a relative of one person rescued.

The Lake County coroner's office Monday afternoon identified the two women as Camille Lozano, 33, and Polly Jensen, 39. They lived in separate apartments at the six-unit building on the 900 block of South Court of Shorewood, Lake County Chief Deputy Coroner Steve Newton said.

Lozano went through the building to tell her neighbors of the fire and helped Julissa Perez escape the flames, according to Perez's cousin Natalya Ulloa, who made an online fundraiser in her honor. Once Perez was safe, Lozano went back into the burning building to try to help others, Ulloa said.

That Lozano would risk her life to save someone didn't surprise her aunt Doris I. Lozano, who said Camille's first instinct always was to help others.

"Camille did not have a lot, but she shared what little she had - her love, her time and unfortunately her life," Doris I. Lozano said.

Doris I. Lozano said she believes Camille must have believed she could make it back out of the building because she would never have left her son, Marcus, without his mother.

Jensen was the mother of two, a 12-year-old and a 15-year-old, according to her sister-in-law, Julie Jensen, who set up an online fundraiser in her honor.

"She was the most gentle human, an extraordinarily strong person, and truly did everything she could to give her two daughters the best life ever," Julie Jensen wrote.

She said the two girls were unharmed because they were spending the weekend with their father.

"There are no words to describe what they are going through, and how much their lives changed (Sunday)," the sister-in-law wrote. "Beyond losing their mother, who was their primary caregiver, they lost everything they owned and cherished."

Vernon Hills police and Countryside Fire Protection District officials didn't release more details about the fire and the two women's deaths Monday. On Sunday they said responders arrived at around 3:15 a.m. and found heavy fire.

During the response, authorities received a 911 call reporting that residents were possibly trapped inside the apartments.

Newton said Jensen was found dead inside the building.

Lozano was found and rushed to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville; she died later there, Newton said.

The building was left uninhabitable, officials said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the fire district and the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal.