'It's heartbreaking': Elderly woman killed in Garfield Ridge house fire identified

CHICAGO - An elderly woman was found dead after a house caught fire in Garfield Ridge on Chicago's Southwest Side Sunday morning.

The Chicago Fire Department responded to 5425 South Mulligan Avenue before 10:50 a.m.

Before firefighters arrived, the woman's son went there to check in on her when he saw smoke coming from the back of the home.

Fire officials say the son extinguished the blaze, but it was too late. When firefighters arrived, she had already passed away.

The woman was identified as 76-year-old Alice Zupancic. Her autopsy is pending.

Around 4:30 p.m. Sunday, fire officials said the cause of the fire "appears to be smoking materials being in proximity to a medical oxygen tank."

Zupancic was a smoker and found not too far from the door, fire officials said.

Neighbor Dottie Beres said she saw fire trucks and went outside to see what was going on.

"I saw fire trucks and everything out here. I came outside – they were busting out the windows of the house," Beres said. "She was a really nice lady. She didn't bother nobody. She stayed to herself."

Fire crews spent most of the day boarding up the property. Many of Zupancic's items were destroyed in the blaze.

Neighbors say it's a tight-knit street, where everyone looks forward to the annual block club party together.

"It's heartbreaking. They lost their mother and grandmother," one neighbor said.

Fire officials say the house did have a working smoke alarm but no one heard it.