Updated 02/26/14 – 11:08 a.m.
OAK LAWN, Ill. (CBS) – At least two people — possibly three — were found dead at a home in Oak Lawn on Wednesday, after firefighters responded to a blaze at the home.
The fire started around 5 a.m. at a 1 1/2-story home in the 9800 block of South 51st Avenue.
CBS 2′s Mike Puccinelli reports when crews arrived, the house was nearly fully involved in flames. Some of the closest hydrants were frozen, but firefighters were quickly able to tap into other hydrants.
Firefighters broke windows to get inside the home, where they discovered the bodies of two men.
Both men were taken away in ambulances, and later pronounced dead.
A third body reportedly was found at the home, but Oak Lawn police and fire officials and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office could not immediately confirm that information. Sources said one of the two bodies confirmed to have been found was inside a car that was towed away from the scene, covered in a tarp.
The roof and floor of the home collapsed in the blaze, and crews from several neighboring suburbs helped extinguish the fire, which was put out by about 9 a.m.
Oak Lawn Police Chief of Detectives Michael Kaufmann said emergency workers were trying to determine if anyone else was in the house at the time of the fire.
“We’re going to start taking the house apart, because the roof and a part of the floor has collapsed, so we are in the process right now of going into the house once that is taken apart,” he said. “We’re trying to determine if there’s other family members possibly involved there, and it will be a recovery at this point if that’s the case.”
The South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force was investigating.
