Elderly wife dies, husband critically injured in house fire in Roseland
CHICAGO (CBS) – People in the Roseland neighborhood say they are devastated after a house fire claimed the life of a much-loved neighbor. They say the victim was like the mother of the neighborhood.
An elderly couple's home went up in flames, leaving the husband at Roseland Community Hospital in critical condition and the wife dead.
"Everybody knew her. This is just, like, sad," said Allison Brown, a lifelong friend of the family.
Brown said 71-year-old Patricia Farmer, also known as "Maxwell," was the neighborhood mother.
"I was just visiting her two weeks ago," she said. "Just to hear this this morning, it's totally unexpected."
Just before 4 a.m. Saturday, Chicago police received a call to help EMS in the 10500 block of South Forest Avenue. When officers arrived, the second floor of the house was engulfed in flames. The house is now left charred, leaving neighbors confused and shocked.
"I'm just trying to grasp everything," Brown said.
Patricia Farmer was found unresponsive and later pronounced dead at Roseland Community Hospital. Her husband, a man in his 70s, was also taken to the hospital in critical condition.
Brown said Patricia was the type of woman who welcomed you with open arms.
"I would always just stop by. I would always come in. She would be like, 'Come on in.' She would just welcome, 'Come on in.' The door was always open," she said.
Brown said she'll be missed.
"She was like the go-to lady."
This neighborhood is now left with a gaping hole that Brown says can't be replaced.
"She was just a great woman. She was loved by many," she said.
A firefighter was transported to a hospital with a minor lower leg injury.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
