Space heater may have caused fire that killed 5, officials say Authorities said a space heater may have caused a fire Wednesday in Des Plaines that killed Grace Espinosa, 1, Allizon V. Espinosa, 3, Genesis A. Espinosa, 5, Renata P. Espinosa, 6, and their mother, Cythaly Zamodio. Their father was not home when the tragedy occurred. courtesy of Violeta Gomez-Garcia The family on Wednesday released this unlabeled picture of one of the Espinosa children who were killed in Wednesday s fire at their Des Plaines home. courtesy of Violeta Gomez-Garcia Horacio Espinosa, a neighbor and relative of the five people killed in Wednesday s fire on Oakton Street in Des Plaines, spoke to the media Thursday while visiting the scene of the tragedy.
By JON HAWORTH, ABC News
(CHICAGO) A 25-year-old mother and her four young daughters have been killed after a house fire ravaged their family home.
The incident occurred at approximately 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in Des Plaines, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, when the Des Plaines Fire Department responded to reports of smoke at a single family property which had been converted into four apartments, according to a statement issued by the Des Plaines Fire Department.
Inside the home at the time was a 25-year-old mother along with her four young daughters aged 6, 5, 3 and 1 while the father was at work, according to ABC News’ Chicago station WLS-TV.
DES PLAINES, Ill. (WLS) A mother and her four young daughters were killed in a house fire in northwest suburban Des Plaines Wednesday morning.
The fire broke out at about 10:13 a.m. in the 700-block of West Oakton Street. Passersby spotted smoke and called 911.
Downstairs neighbor Pabel Marrero said he woke up first to the familiar sound of children running upstairs, and then to the unsettling smell of burning plastic and a passing stranger banging at the door. He s screaming at me to come out of the house because the house is on fire, Marrero said. I was shocked, said Yein Espinosa, whose brother lost his four daughters in the fire. I was worried about the kids, the girls, pretty much and everyone who was inside. Where are they? What happened to them?