A woman has died after a fire on Chicago’s far Northwest Side, authorities say.
According to Chicago fire officials, a fire broke out Sunday in the 3800 block of North Odell, located in Chicago’s Belmont Heights neighborhood.
As firefighters battled the blaze, a 78-year-old woman was discovered inside of the structure, and she was later pronounced dead, according to officials. Two other individuals refused treatment at the scene.
Following the fire, relatives of the woman who died gathered outside the destroyed home to grieve their loss.
“I live right around the corner from them, and I can’t imagine losing my loved ones on a tragedy like this,” said neighbor Joe Berrios.
Family described the woman who was killed in the fire as “wonderful” and said that everyone loved her. She was identified as Francine Matchitelli, 87, by the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
“She had a caretaker, and she had to run an errand and found that the house was on fire, and she could not get into the room to rescue her,” said Larry Langford, a spokesman for the Chicago Fire Department.
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Langford said the backroom was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived.
“We quickly extinguished the fire, which was contained to one room, but found that the lady that was there had already passed away,” said Langford.
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The fire department is investigating the cause, but found a contributing factor.
“It looks as if it is probably going to be a deadly combination of smoking while on oxygen,” said Langford.
Smoke detectors were present at the home, but not working at the time of the fire.
