CHICAGO (AP) — The remaining two children of a Chicago firefighter have died days after a fire at the family’s Northwest Side home also killed his wife and 7-year-old son, authorities said.
Firefighter Walter Stewart’s 2-year-old son, Emory Day-Stewart, and his 9-year-old daughter, Autumn Day-Stewart, died Saturday and Friday, respectively, of smoke inhalation injuries, the Cook County medical examiner said. This is reported by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Stewart’s wife, Summer Day-Stewart, 36, died Thursday, and their son, Ezra Stewart, 7, died Wednesday.
She and three children were rescued from the family’s burning Montclair home Tuesday night and rushed to a hospital with smoke inhalation, officials said.
Stewart was not part of the fire crew that extinguished the fire, but when he heard the address of the fire on the radio, he went to the scene and performed CPR on his wife, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said.
According to him, the fire started in the kitchen of the house, but its cause remains to be determined.
The Chicago Fire Department is raising money to help Stewart’s family cope with the “unspeakable tragedy” through its Ignite the Spirit charity.
