1991 — Dec 9, West Side Apartment Building Fire, Humboldt Park, Chicago, IL — 10

— 10  AP. “Apartment fire kills 10 in Chicago.” The Telegraph, Alton, IL, 12-9-1991, p. 7.

— 10  Chicago Sun-Times. “Blaze was Deadliest in 10 Yrs.”  Dec 10, 1991.

— 10  National Fire Protection Association. Home Fires with Ten or More Fatalities (webpage).

 

Narrative Information

 

AP, Dec 9: “”Chicago (AP) – Fire swept through a three-story apartment building early today on the city’s West Side, killing 10 people, five of them children, authorities said. The blaze gutted to top floor of the brick building, heavily damaged the second floor and sent three more people to the hospital in extremely critical condition, police said….Police said the fire broke out shortly before 3 a.m. in a second-floor apartment. ‘We’re still not sure of the cause. It appears accidental,’ [citing a policeman]….

 

“…a resident reported the building had been having electrical problems and fire officials were investigating that possibility.

 

“…12 people were in the third-floor apartment when the fire broke out….” (Associated Press. “Apartment fire kills 10 in Chicago.” The Telegraph, Alton, IL, 12-9-1991, p. 7.)

 

AP, Dec 10: “A fast-moving fire turned a crowded Humboldt Park[1] apartment into a deadly inferno Monday, trapping and killing 10 people – six of them children – while neighbors could hear their screams, authorities said….Police listed overuse of extension cords in a second-floor apartment as the preliminary cause….Among the fatalities: Timothy Cooper, listed in his 30s; Timothy Cooper, 5; Adam Cooper, 4; Marion Hill, 4; Richard Hill, 8; Virgil Hill, no age; Robert Hill, no age; and Mario Jenkins, 14….[2] A 25-year-old woman who also had been in the apartment was listed in critical condition late Monday at Cook County Hospital….

 

“City Building Commissioner Dan Weil said investigators found ‘a great deal’ of illegal and improper electrical wiring, including spliced and ungrounded wiring, in the building. ‘This is a situation waiting for a fire, when you have improper connections and splicing and open wires,’ Weil said…a smoke alarm in the third-floor stairwell was working but no alarms were found inside the third-floor apartment….

 

“The 10 who died and the injured woman all lived in the two-bedroom apartment….” (Associated Press. “Fire traps, kills 10 in Humboldt Park apartment.” Daily Herald, Arlington Heights, IL, 12-10-1991, p. 6.)

 

Sources

 

Associated Press. “Apartment fire kills 10 in Chicago.” The Telegraph, Alton, IL, 12-9-1991, p. 7. Accessed 4-14-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/illinois/alton/alton-telegraph/1991/12-09/page-7?tag

 

Associated Press. “Fire traps, kills 10 in Humboldt Park apartment.” Daily Herald, Arlington Heights, IL, 12-10-1991, p. 6. Accessed 4-14-2016 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/illinois/arlington-heights/daily-herald-suburban-chicago/1991/12-10/page-12?tag

 

Chicago Sun-Times. “Blaze was Deadliest in 10 Yrs.”  Dec 10, 1991.

 

Chicago Tribune/Michael Martinez. “Sorrow Overflows at Funeral for 10 Killed in Fire.” 12-15-1991. Accessed 4-14-2016 at: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1991-12-15/news/9104220626_1_fire-department-investigators-hill-family-apartment-fire

 

National Fire Protection Association. Home Fires With Ten or More Fatalities (webpage). Accessed 3-20-2016 at: http://www.nfpa.org/research/reports-and-statistics/fires-in-the-us/multiple-death-fires/homes-fires-with-ten-or-more-fatalities

 

[1] One of 77 officially designated community areas on the West Side of Chicago. (Google)

[2] Another source identifies the other two fatalities as Cherita Pendleton, 19 (thought to have been the girlfriend of Robert Hill), and her 4-month-old daughter from another relationship, QuaShee Marquita Bargnear. Also noted that Timothy Calloway Cooper was 34 and that two of the dead were his brothers, Robert Hill, 19, and Virgil Hill, 18. (Chicago Tribune/Michael Martinez. “Sorrow Overflows at Funeral for 10 Killed in Fire.” 12-15-1991.)