Three people are reportedly dead and three others are considered to be in "extremely critical" condition after a fire destroyed a two-story home in the Southwest Side's Marquette Park neighborhood Thursday night.
NBC5 reported the fatalities were two people in their 50s and a 6-year-old girl.
The fire started about 10:10 p.m. at a 2 ½-story frame house at 2916 W. Lithuanian Plaza Ct. (69th Street), fire media affairs Director Larry Langford said.
Firefighters responding to the blaze, which reportedly started on the house's back porch, found one person dead at the scene and five others critically injured. Nobody in the house escaped without being harmed, Langford said.
Initially, one person was reported tp be dead at the scene and five others critically injured. As of 1 a.m. two others had died, according to fire media affairs Cmdr. Will Knight.
Of the five transported to hospitals, two people were taken to Little Company of Mary Hospital and Health Care Centers in Evergreen Park, while the three others were taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Provident Hospital of Cook County and Holy Cross Hospital, Knight said. It was not immediately known as of 1 a.m. Friday which of these victims had died.
"All the victims were in extremely critical condition," Langford said. "There survival is not certain and some are in life-threatening condition."
The Cook County Medical Examiner's office had not been notified of any deaths as of 12:50 a.m. Friday.
The house had one non-working smoke detector in the basement. In every fatal fire in the city this year, smoke detectors were either not working or non-existent, Langford said.
The fire was extinguished at 10:44 p.m., according to Langford, who said the weather did not cause any problems for firefighters. Hydrant problems usually do not occur unless the temperature falls below 15-degrees, Langford said.
The cause of the fire remained unknown at 12:30 a.m., Langford said.
