An 83-year-old woman died and a second person was critically injured in a house fire on Friday afternoon in north suburban Spring Grove, authorities said.
At around noon, emergency personnel responded to a house fire along North 6th Avenue and West Belden Avenue, authorities said. A 52-year-old man who lives in the home tried to rescue two other residents, an 83-year-old woman and a 55-year-old woman. Due to the heat and smoke, he was unable to bring them to safety, officials stated.
The man, who sustained minor injuries in the fire, was able to escape.
Firefighters arrived at the scene a short time later and rescued both women. The 83-year-old woman was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. The second victim, who is 55 years old, was taken to an area hospital in critical condition and later transferred to a burn center.
Video showed smoke billowing around nearly the entire exterior as crews worked to extinguish the fire.
As of Friday evening, where the fire originated and the cause remained unclear. Sheriff’s officials and fire investigators were working together to determine what sparked the fire.
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