The 7-year-old son of a Chicago firefighter has died from injuries he suffered in a house fire that also injured his two young sisters and their mother.
Ezra Stewart was pronounced dead at 6:25 p.m. Wednesday, a day after he was brought to Loyola University Medical Center with smoke inhalation, according to the medical examiner’s office.
Ezra, his two sisters 2 and 7, and their mother were pulled from bedrooms in their burning home in the 2500 block of North Rutherford Avenue around 9 p.m. Tuesday and were hospitalized in critical condition, according to the Chicago Fire Department.
Ezra’s father, who was on duty at the time, rushed to the Northwest Side home and performed CPR on his 34-year-old wife, according to the fire department. The firefighter wasn’t working on the crew that responded to the home but he was driven there by a department member, CFD spokesman Larry Langford said.
The cause of the fire remained unclear, but investigators know it began in the kitchen and spread through the home, Langford said. Smoke detectors in the house were working, he added.
The day after the fire, contractors boarded up broken windows and a door on the home’s porch, where an empty stroller remained. Neighbors walked past and told reporters about the quiet, working-class family that have lived in the home for several years.
“We’re praying for them,” Carlos Gomez said as he walked his dog. He said he saw firefighters remove children from the home and perform CPR.
Justin Castrejon said he lives across the street and helped the family’s mother last fall after she locked her keys in her car. “She was like, ‘Thank you so much,’” he said. “They were pretty quiet. I just feel bad.”
Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th) visited the victims’ home Wednesday morning. He said firefighters would canvass the block and pass out smoke alarms with 10-year battery spans.
Villegas said he met the family recently while canvassing for an election. “They’re a blue-collar, working-class family. The family was just your typical Chicago family in the bungalow beltway. They keep to themselves,” he said.
Neighbor Julisa Miranda said she was shocked by the fire. “I’ve never seen so many firefighters,” she said. “After this, I thought, ‘Am I prepared?’ I’m not.”
