Chicago Fire Department investigators say that unattended cooking caused the extra-alarm fire in the West Ridge neighborhood last month that killed a 6-year-old boy and injured his mother along with two firefighters, officials said.
The fast-moving Valentine’s Day fire engulfed much of the multi-unit apartment building at 2744 W. Granville Ave., leaving Milan Campbell, 6, dead and his mother, Simina Contras-Campbell, critically injured. Two firefighters were also injured when an engulfed interior stairwell collapsed.
Milan was pronounced dead at 11:42 a.m., but his official cause and manner of death are pending, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Boy killed, woman and two firefighters hurt in West Ridge apartment fire
The department’s office of fire investigation determined that unattended cooking sparked the fire that burned so intensely for roughly 90 minutes that flames burned through the building’s roof. The fire itself was considered accidental, according to fire officials.
The child’s death compounded grief for Contras-Campbell, whose husband Emilio Daniel Campbell, died unexpectedly 18 months prior, according to a GoFundMe set up for her and news accounts. The GoFundMe raised more than $151,000.