Family in Little Village fire investigated by DCFS


DCFS is investigating allegations of neglect and whether or not the children in the Little Village house fire were left unattended overnight.

A spokesperson from DCFS said there are a lot of challenges in trying to uncover what exactly happened.

On August 29, 2018, the department released a list of its contact with the mothers of the children, which dates back to 1996. The mother, who rented the apartment and was the mom of five children in the fire, was investigated 22 times since 2004. Of those 22 complaints, two were verified. She was cited for endangerment in 2015 and in 2013, one of her 5-year-old sons, who seemed to be autistic, was seen running in and out of traffic. She was cited for inadequate supervision.

 

The department offered services to the mother throughout their contact. As for the landlord, Merced Gutierrez, City Code requires them to equip apartments with smoke detectors, but it is the tenant’s responsibility to maintain them.

 The landlord’s attorney said Gutierrez installed smoke detectors because he was cited for not having them in the past.

 The Chicago Fire Department said the fire was so large and hot when they arrived Sunday at 4 a.m. they believe it could have been flaming for about an hour and a half before anyone made the call.