1-year-old girl killed, 8 injured in West Lawn fire

CHICAGO - A 1-year-old girl died Wednesday after a fire gutted a home in West Lawn on the Southwest Side that also injured eight other people, including an infant and another toddler.

The fire started about midnight in the attic of a single-family home in the 6000 block of South Kenneth Avenue, police said. Eight people were taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

The 1-year-old girl was pronounced dead at the hospital after suffering from smoke inhalation, police said.

She was identified as Samantha Modesto, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

A 2-year-old girl is “fighting for life” in critical condition, the Chicago Fire Department said on Twitter. She was transferred to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, police said.

A 5-month-old was also hospitalized in critical condition, while a 12-year-old boy and 14-year-old girl were in good condition, according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford.

The fire appeared to be accidental, police said. The CFD Office of Fire Investigations is investigating.

A 31-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman were critically injured, Langford said. Two women, 40 and 28, were in good condition.

Police said two adults were transferred to Stroger Hospital but couldn’t specify which ones. Four others have been treated and released, police said.

A fire department spokesman said it appears there were working smoke detectors on the first floor but there were not any on the second floor.

On Wednesday morning, a group of firefighters knocked on doors in the neighborhood and handed out smoke detectors along with fire safety flyers.