Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

2 Men Dead After Fire Destroys House in Garfield Ridge

By Joe Ward | August 29, 2015 4:42pm | Updated on August 30, 2015 6:00pm
 A Garfield Ridge house was burning from front to back when firefighters arrived on scene. Two died in the blaze, the Chicago Fire Department said.
A Garfield Ridge house was burning from front to back when firefighters arrived on scene. Two died in the blaze, the Chicago Fire Department said.
View Full Caption
Chicago Fire Department

CHICAGO — A deadly house fire — and one the Chicago Fire Department is deeming suspicious — claimed the lives of a 28-year-old man and a 63-year-old man in Garfield Ridge early Saturday.

Firefighters learned of the fire around 9:41 a.m. Saturday and responded in three minutes to the scene at 5209 S. Lorel Ave., according to Larry Langford, Chicago Fire Department spokesman.

They found the home on fire "from front to back," Langford said, and firefighters worked to suppress the fire enough to attempt to rescue the two trapped inside.

But when firefighters got to the two men, it was too late, Langford said. The 63-year-old man was found in a bedroom near the house's rear door and a younger man was found in an attic bedroom, he said. Both were pronounced dead at 1 p.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office. The 28-year-old was later identified as Joseph Vela, with an unknown home address. (Fire officials initially reported that he was 26 years old.) Morgue officials had not yet named the 63-year-old, or released autopsy results, as of Sunday evening.

About 90 firefighters and paramedics responded to the extra-alarm fire, Langford said.

"The alarm was raised because of the number of calls and the descriptions in those calls," he said.

A cause for the fire is not yet known, although it is being considered a suspicious fire, Langford said. Department officials are still investigating the incident, he said.

For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here: