Tuesday, March 17, 2015

BEDRIDDEN ELDERLY MAN DIES IN ANTIOCH, ILLINOIS MASSIVE FIRE. HE WAS ON OXYGEN, WHICH MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE MASSIVE FIRE













MARCH 16, 2015

ANTIOCH, ILLINOIS

The first-arriving firefighters at Sunday's house fire in Antioch could hear a man calling for help, but with flames raging throughout the home, crews didn't make it to Lowell Simonson's bedroom in time to save his life. Antioch Fire Chief John Nixon said the 74-year-old was found in cardiac arrest. Firefighters carried Simonson out of the house on a ladder and paramedics attempted to revive him outside and on the way to Centegra Northern Illinois Medical Center in McHenry, where he was pronounced dead.

"His room was very hot; the firefighters' gear was damaged from the heat," said Nixon, adding that firefighters' helmets and face shields bubbled and strips on their equipment melted in the man's bedroom.

The McHenry County Coroner, which is handling the death investigation, has not yet released the cause of death. Simonson's wife, Patricia, 74, who was bedridden and on oxygen, is still in serious condition at an area hospital, Nixon said.

The first of several 911 calls was made at 10:11 a.m., reporting a house fire in the 38500 block of Drexel Boulevard. Fire officials said in a statement Sunday that the preliminary investigation showed the fire appeared to have started in an upstairs room of the three-floor home. Six of the seven residents were able to escape the fire before the arrival of firefighters.

Lowell Simonson was on the top floor while his wife and her sister, who has disabilities, were on the second floor. Patricia Simonson's daughter and three grandchildren lived on the basement level.

"From the initial interview, the daughter said she heard the gentleman yell there was a fire and she tried to do what she could do to get everyone out of the home," Nixon said.

The first tankers arrived on the scene in 12 minutes, finding the home's multiple levels engulfed in flames.

"The shift commander heard the victim and then he was silent," Nixon said.
"We don't know how long he lived after we got there. Firefighters thought he was still alive and climbed into his room from a ladder and found him on the floor of his room."

While fire officials continue to investigate the cause, Nixon said there are no indications that the house had smoke alarms, a state law in Illinois.

Nixon, however, said there is no reason to believe the death, serious injuries and total loss of the home could have been prevented if the Fire Department still had it's station just a few minutes away on Grass Lake Road.

The station was closed this year among sweeping budget cuts village officials said were the result of voters rejecting a November referendum that would have created a designated funding source for ambulance services.

"We started off at a disadvantage and it didn't get better after that," Nixon said, noting that there are no fire hydrants in the area.

The home also was packed with items that accelerate fires, Nixon said, listing oxygen tanks, wall paneling, boxes and bags. Patricia Simonson relied on the oxygen.

"It was a fast moving fire, that home was consumed rapidly," he said.
And while the first fire trucks arrived from the downtown fire station in 12 minutes, a second truck from the Deep Lake Road firehouse took 14 minutes after a freight train delayed its arrival.

"We did the best we could with the resources we had," Nixon said.
Water was pumped from the nearby Lotus Elementary School and trucked to the site where a large pool was set up to act as a reservoir to fight the fire. Twelve departments sent tanker trucks to keep the reservoir full of water.

Nixon said 87,000 gallons of water was poured on the fire.

A point of origin and cause may never be known, Nixon said, "because the house collapsed from the top down, pancaking the other floors. The destruction was so major," he said.

Nothing appears salvageable, save for a few bikes in the front yard.
On Sunday, Antioch Township brought in a backhoe to tear down part of the structure, but the heavy equipment was bogged down due to a septic field in the yard.

Neighbor Charlie Wilberg, 62, who has lived directly across the street for 12 years said the Simonson family moved in about six years ago.

"It was like a big mushroom cloud when I walked out," he said of the fire. "The flames were as high as the tree tops. The fire was so intense I don't think it would of made any difference if firefighters were here 10 minutes earlier."

Wilberg said the family was outside in T-shirts Sunday while crews worked the fire. His wife offered them money and clothes, but they declined. The Simonsons told authorities they had a place to stay and the American Red Cross has been assisting as well.

"They didn't know what they were going to do," Wilberg said.
Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com