A massive blaze at a home in far north suburban Zion early Wednesday morning left three family members dead and another person injured, officials said.
Loved ones of those who were killed in the fire returned to the scene Wednesday morning in search of any information that would shed light on how the fire was started.
Authorities identified the three people killed in the blaze as 58-year-old Scott Copen, 54-year-old Gina Copen and 41-year-old Cristal Copen, who all resided inside the home.
According to fire officials, the three individuals were related to one another.
A woman who resides at a nearby home was hospitalized for smoke inhalation following the fire.
“This thing was so intense that our house over here, if it had been another 20 or 25 minutes or so our house may have lit up,” neighbor George Gregory said. “The house could feel the smoke over here that’s how hot it was, I mean the fire was just terrible.”
Gregory lives right next door and told NBC Chicago he woke up to what sounded like a loud boom near 29th Street and Enoch Avenue.
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“It was on fire, I mean boom instantly,” he said. “It was just a blaze, we thought maybe it might catch the house, we got dressed and came outside.”
Video from overnight shows Zion firefighters battling the fire with help from multiple departments. The 911 calls came in just before midnight, with reports that people may still be trapped in the home.
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“This situation is a really worst-case scenario for firefighters in the middle of the night fire that’s already well involved,” Justin Stried, the Zion Fire-Rescue Department Chief said. “By the time our crews get there not knowing if the occupants even know there’s a fire let alone they were able to get out or not unfortunately in this case they were not able to get out.”
Firefighters made their way in and found the three victims unresponsive on the second floor of the building.
“We didn’t associate to the point where we visited one another,” Gregory said. “We talked across the fence and stuff like that, everybody kind of stayed to themselves, sorry to hear they say about three or so people died in there.”
Though firefighters haven't been able to confirm that there were no working smoke detectors, it is believed that the lack of the devices may have played a role in the blaze.
“That’s one of our biggest messages for anybody watching is making sure you have working smoke alarms, all levels of the home—it truly can make a difference in saving a life," Stried said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
