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North Park Community Rallies Around Victims of Fatal Fire

By Patty Wetli | November 10, 2014 7:27pm | Updated on November 11, 2014 9:15am
 A 10-year-old boy was killed in a fire on the Northwest Side over the weekend.
A 10-year-old boy was killed in a fire on the Northwest Side over the weekend.
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CBS/DNAinfo

NORTH PARK — As Peterson Elementary mourns the loss of 10-year-old student Ans Kahn, killed in a fatal apartment fire Sunday morning, the school community and members of the surrounding North Park neighborhood have rallied around the families left homeless by the blaze, which sent 11 people to the hospital.

In a letter to Peterson parents posted to the school's website, interim principal Kate Kane stated "a Peterson student was tragically killed in the fire."

Grief counselors from CPS' crisis team were sent to the school, according to a Chicago Public Schools spokeswoman.

"Members of the Peterson community need each other now more than ever, and there are countless individuals willing to do whatever is necessary to support the families involved," Kane wrote.

 Peterson Elementary is collecting donations for the victims of a fatal fire, including a 10-year-old student killed in the blaze.
Peterson Elementary is collecting donations for the victims of a fatal fire, including a 10-year-old student killed in the blaze.
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DNAinfo/Patty Wetli

"I encourage all members of the Peterson community to reach out to each other, to extend a word of sympathy or a helping hand as we collectively grieve this horrible loss," she said.

The Friends of Peterson organization responded by putting out a call on Facebook for donations of money and clothing to assist the residents of 5735 N. Kimball Ave., who escaped the burning building with little more than their pajamas.

Children's clothing can be dropped off at school's gym, 5510 N. Christiana Ave., noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday during report card pick-up. Sizes in need: Girls size 7/8 and 10; boys size 6/7, 7/8, 12 and 14. Second-hand clothing should be gently used, clean and in good condition.

Monetary donations can be mailed to the school, care of Friends of Peterson. Checks should be made out to Friends of Peterson, with "Fire Victims Fund" in the memo field. A donation button is in the process of being added to Peterson's website.

Fire crews responded to the blaze in the 5700 block of North Kimball Avenue about 3 a.m. Sunday. The three-alarm fire was declared under control by 5:45 a.m. The boy was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:20 a.m. Sunday, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office, which identified the boy as Hans Kahn.

Sources identified the boy as Ans Kahn, however.

At least 11 others, including the boy's family, were taken to Weiss Memorial Hospital, Thorek Hospital and Swedish Covenant Hospital, said Fire Media Affairs spokesman Joe Roccasalva. At least five children were among the victims.

CBS2 reported that the boy's parents, Maria and Tahir Khan, are in critical condition and that two of the child's siblings survived after being tossed out of a window during the fire.

"The parents, they were holding the kids from the elbows, throwing them out the window, and there were a couple of people standing on the floor catching the kids," a family friend told CBS2.

The boy was later found inside the apartment, perhaps lost in the smoke, the friend said. The father is a CTA bus driver

Mauricio Peña and Alex Parker contributed to this report.

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