July 10--A woman has died after a fire that critically injured her two children and husband in the Little Village neighborhood early Friday, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office and police.
The 24-year-old woman was pronounced dead at 5:30 a.m. at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, according to police and the medical examiner's office. She suffered burns over about 30 percent of her body, according to the medical examiner's office.
The woman was identified as Korissa Chupp, according to the office.
Flames were shooting from the basement apartment when firefighters got to the 2600 block of West Cullerton Street around 4:23 a.m., said Chicago Fire Department spokesman Cmdr. Frank Velez.
"Firefighters found heavy fire on arrival and one victim outside,'' Velez said.
Crews accounted for three people who live on the first floor but learned others were trapped inside.
The victim outside, a 26-year-old man, told police he managed to jump out of the apartment and as officers continued talking to him, they saw firefighters carrying his children and wife outside.
When police asked him how the fire could have started he said before he went to sleep he was burning a mosquito repellent candle in the middle of the apartment
"But I blew it out. I blew it out, I swear I blew on it and it was out,'' the man said, according to a police report.
He also told police he was awakened by a loud sound at his door and when he grabbed the handle it was so hot it burned his hands, police said.
Chupp, her 2-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son were all taken to Stroger, initially in critical condition. The man suffered minor injuries and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, police said.
Velez earlier said it was one of the children who was the one taken to Sinai.
A dog was also rescued from the fire, which left several people displaced.
A still and box alarm and emergency medical services Plan I, which automatically sends at least five ambulances to the scene, were canceled at 4:57 a.m., Velez said.
The cause and origin of the fire were being looked into by the Office of Fire Investigation, but Velez said there was no reason to suspect foul play.
It was not known if smoke detectors activated.
