May 18--As a 4-year-old boy remained hospitalized in a drug-induced coma Monday, police determined that arson was the cause of the fire that ripped through his Albany Park home early Sunday.
Tyler Roe, 4, remained at Comer Children's Hospital and was in a drug-induced coma as he underwent synthetic skin graft surgery. Officials said the boy suffered smoke inhalation and second-degree burns to 75 percent of his body.
"He had a rough night, he's still very critical," said Kayla Pocius, a close family friend. "He's in a drug-induced coma, so hopefully he won't feel anything."
The preschooler was injured after the carriage home he lived in with his family in the 4300 block of North Drake Avenue caught fire about 2:40 a.m. Sunday, according to police.
Police issued a community alert Monday seeking video or photos of suspects after an investigation ruled the fire was an arson. In the alert, police said someone set several garbage cans on fire in an alley at the rear of the home.
The fire then spread to the rest of the home, where the boy and his older brother, Ronnie Brewster, 16, were asleep. Police said a second fire set in garbage cans several buildings away in the same alley were also intentionally lit.
Brewster was also treated and released from Comer after he appeared to show signs of smoke inhalation, Pocius said.
According to the boy's family, Tyler and Brewster and close family friend and godfather Jarrett Pocius were asleep in the two-story frame home when flames crawled up the rear of the building facing the alley.
It appeared that at least eight trash cans in the alley were intentionally set on fire, said Pocius, 32.
Several garages, including one several buildings south, also sustained significant fire damage. A gas can, which Jarrett Pocius said he saw being picked up by police, was left near that garage.
"I woke up to so much smoke. I smelled it, and then I seen fire. I filled up a pot of water. I didn't even think because I had just woke up. I put on my pants, and by the time the pot of water filled up the whole (house) was covered in flames," said Pocius, who lives on the first-floor of the home. "It started in the back, it pretty much started on top."
The boy was in the living room sleeping on a couch on the second floor of the home farthest from the alley.
Ronnie Brewster said he was asleep in a bedroom near the rear of the house when he woke up. He jumped out of a second-floor window onto the roof of a neighbor's garage.
"I felt the heat, because I was right next to the fire," said Brewster. "I was like, 'What's going on, what's going on?' and I opened the door and it was cloudy and smoky and I said, 'I've got to get out of here.' "
Brewster said that after seeing the wall of smoke he quickly closed his bedroom door, opened a window and jumped. He said it was only when he was outside that he saw the source of the heat and smoke.
"I saw the flames behind the house," said Brewster adding that he thought, "Who would do this?"
Two firefighters also had minor injuries, police said.
Anyone with information or surveillance videos or photos is asked to call Arson section investigators at (312)746-7618.
