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