Glendale Heights Condo Fire That Left 2 Dead Deemed Suspicious
GLENDALE HEIGHTS, Ill. (CBS) -- A fire that left two people dead and a child injured in Glendale Heights this week has been deemed suspicious.
Police said, shortly after 10 a.m., officers responded to the Waters Edge Condominiums complex on the 100 block of Dunteman Drive, where they saw a fire in one of the condo buildings.
Video showed a wall of fire consuming the building.
The Bloomingdale Fire Department and other neighboring fire departments responded and extinguished the fire.
The Bloomingdale acting fire chief told CBS 2 on Tuesday that the cause of the fire is under investigation but is suspicious and is being handled by the DuPage County Arson Task Force.
Two people were found dead in the fire, but a cause of death has not yet been determined. Their names had not been released Tuesday. Police said a child also was injured, and was taken to the hospital and has been treated and released.
One police officer and four firefighters also were hospitalized with injuries from the fire, according to police. All were treated and released.
Three other police officers were treated as a precautionary measure and released, police said.
The fire started in one condo and spread. More than one condo was damaged in the fire, and Glendale Heights Police Department Community Outreach Specialists are providing assistance to the families that were displaced.
CBS 2's Jermont Terry reported Monday that residents said it was clear that the fire was massive from the number of responding agencies.
"Then I saw the fire department and everybody just like running like something was going down, and I saw other residents fleeing, I was like, what's going on? So when I stepped outside and when I looked over, I saw right away that something – it wasn't just a regular fire," said David Madera, who lives in the complex. "I mean, it was bad. It was black-smoke-fill-the-air kind of bad."
As fire crews worked diligently to knock down the fire, neighbors said before crews arrived, they heard loud noises – possibly an explosion from the unit.
"I got to hear pops and pops and pops, you know, like something sparking in there was flammable," complex resident Darius Jones said.
Police said they and the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago were making accommodations for the people displaced by the fire.