IL House Fire Claims Three

Three adults including a 91-year-old woman died and a fourth person was injured during a fire that raged through a house Wednesday morning, according to River Grove Fire Chief Sean Flynn.

Marilyn Owrey Hennig, 91, was found on the first floor while 24-year-old Michelle Owrey and 61-year-old John Owrey were discovered on the second floor, according to Flynn and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Earlier, Flynn said Michelle Owrey was 28.

The unidentified surviving man, 56, suffered smoke inhalation, and his condition has not changed, according to Flynn late Wednesday afternoon.

Firefighters were called to the 2300 block of Grove Street at 7:24 a.m. in the west Cook County suburb for what began as a garage fire, Flynn said. The flames spread to the 2.5-story home, “entrapping” multiple people, Flynn said earlier.

“We got multiple calls that it was extending into the house and it was fully engulfed. We did have some water issues due to the weather,” he said.

One man was taken in critical condition to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood while Owrey Hennig, Michelle Owrey and John Owrey were pronounced dead at the scene.

“These bodies are pretty badly burned,” Flynn said.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the house had any alarms.

“The fire was so intense that we can’t tell if there were smoke detectors,” Flynn said.

The cause remained unknown and was under investigation by the River Grove Fire Department and the office of the state fire marshal.

“It’s hard enough to get a cause when it’s a ‘normal’ fire and it’s even harder when there are deaths.’’ Flynn said.

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