Grandmother, son killed in house fire in South Austin: ‘We just lost two pillars in our family’

By Tre Ward

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    CHICAGO, Illinois (WLS) — Two people died after an early Saturday morning house fire on the city’s West Side, officials said.

The fire broke out just after midnight near Leamington and Ohio in the South Austin neighborhood.

A family’s home for more than five decades was left gutted. A grandmother and her son were killed while trying to stop the fire while a third relative made it out, the family told ABC7.

Chicago firefighters and police responded to the scene, where a 65-year-old man was pronounced dead. An 88-year-old woman was transported to West Suburban Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Another man, 62, was able to escape from the fire unharmed.

The surviving victim is at Stroger Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation. Family members said his last time seeing his mother and older brother alive was while they were trying to save the home they’ve lived in since 1971 from a growing fire.

“I can’t imagine the pain that they had to go through in those moments, where we had so many good times at,” said Dwayne Jones, a son and grandson of the two deceased fire victims.

Behind the boarded up walls of the now-scorched home are the countless memories of the mourning family.

“This is one of the first places that I ever got to know,” Jones said. “It’s gut-wrenching. I got to walk through the house, and I seen my father’s room, my uncle’s room, and my grandmother’s room.”

Jones say it started from a space heater in his 65-year-old father Danny Jones’ upstairs back room.

“Him and my uncle were trying to put it out, but I don’t think my uncle was able to make it back upstairs,” Jones said.

He said his grandmother, Minnie, rushed out of her bed to try to save her son and home from the flames.

“Regardless of how old her sons are, those still her babies, and she’s going to help her babies,” Jones said. “She’s 88 years old, and she’s going to try to protect them as much as possible.”

The house’s fire alarm could still be heard ringing, just after midnight Saturday, while firefighters were battling the blaze.

By that time, Jones’ 62-year-old uncle had already made it out, but his dad was found dead inside the home, and his grandmother later passed away from her injuries at a nearby hospital.

“We just lost two pillars in our family, and the community lost two huge figures,” Jones said.

While their lives are gone, and the place they’ve lived in since 1971 is now a total loss, what’s not loss are the family’s memories, and the traditions made within the home.

“The outside doesn’t show the horror they must’ve felt,” Jones said. “The love that they poured out everyday… It still is going to have effects for years to come.”

The family told ABC7 the surviving victim is expected to be released from the hospital on Sunday. Funeral arrangements for the grandmother and her son are pending.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. Authorities did not immediately provide further information about the fire.

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