The cause of a blaze that claimed the lives of seven people on Sunday – including four children – and displaced 23, remains unknown, said Cicero fire officials.
Fire broke out Sunday morning at around 6:30 a.m. in the rear of a two-level apartment building in the 3000 block of 48th Court in west suburban Cicero and spread to an adjacent building.
Trapped were Byron Reed, 20 and girlfriend Sallie Gist, 19; their sons Rayshawn, 3, and Byron, 3 days old; Gist's 16-year-old twin siblings Elijah Jr. and Elisha Gist; and a family friend Tiera Davidson, 18, according to Ray Hanania, spokesman for Cicero Township.
More than three-dozen people were at the home to celebrate the newborn's birth, according to information given to Hanania.
Most of the victims were found in the attic, including the mother who was found clutching the baby, and two were found on an enclosed back porch, according to the fire department.
Three firefighters were injured trying to extinguish the blaze, Hanania said.
Fire broke out Sunday morning at around 6:30 a.m. in the rear of a two-level apartment building in the 3000 block of 48th Court in west suburban Cicero and spread to an adjacent building.
Trapped were Byron Reed, 20 and girlfriend Sallie Gist, 19; their sons Rayshawn, 3, and Byron, 3 days old; Gist's 16-year-old twin siblings Elijah Jr. and Elisha Gist; and a family friend Tiera Davidson, 18, according to Ray Hanania, spokesman for Cicero Township.
More than three-dozen people were at the home to celebrate the newborn's birth, according to information given to Hanania.
Most of the victims were found in the attic, including the mother who was found clutching the baby, and two were found on an enclosed back porch, according to the fire department.
Three firefighters were injured trying to extinguish the blaze, Hanania said.
