13-year-old girl critically injured in West Englewood house fire, Chicago fire officials say

A child is in critical condition after a fire in the West Englewood neighborhood, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

Chicago fire officials said they were called to the 2100 block of West 71st Place just after 11:15 a.m. When they arrived they found a one-story home on fire. 

Firefighters quickly worked to put out the flames, and then began searching the residence. During that search, fire officials said they found a 13-year-old girl in a bedroom. 

Firefighters performed CPR and emergency medical services before the girl was taken to Comer Children's Hospital in critical condition. 

Andrew Davis said he was riding down the block when he saw smoke and wondered why police had blocked off the street.

"Something told me to go out and check, and I got out and checked, and I seen a lady lying down in the snow, and she couldn't breathe. So they tried to perform CPR on her," he said.

Fire officials said there were family members at the scene but it wasn't immediately clear if they were in the home at the time of the fire. Chicago Fire Department 5th District Deputy District Chief Gary Brooks said there were smoke detectors in the single-family home, but none of them were working.

"We kind of expressed the need to have smoke detectors and make sure they're working at this day and time. Working smoke detectors and fire alarms and CO detectors are very, very important for our citizens," he said.

A CFD spokesperson said an unattended candle is what caused the fire.