Joliet Woman's Fatal Fire Started At Her Couch

JOLIET, IL — Although the Joliet Fire Department did not determine the precise cause of the June 24 deadly house fire at 816 Black Road, investigative reports shed light on the events surrounding the death of 57-year-old resident Yvette Easterling.

This week, Joliet Patch obtained the fire reports through a Freedom of Information Act request to the Joliet Fire Department. The house where the fatal fire happened is about two blocks from Joliet's busy Six Corners intersection at Raynor Avenue.

The Joliet Fire Department and Joliet Police Department investigated the circumstances of Easterling's death. The fire was ruled undetermined.

Joliet Police Detective Don McKinney interviewed one of Easterling's neighbors who said he regularly helped her from time to time. The neighbor told McKinney that he last saw Easterling around 6:45 p.m. on June 23.

A Joliet Fire Department ambulance crew driving along Black Road spotted the fire around 2 a.m. June 24. Easterling lived at by herself at the one-story wood frame house.

According to McKinney's report, the neighbor "helped her turn on her window air conditioner units. He stated that she was a heavy smoker and that she bought a pack of cigarettes earlier that day. He stated that before he left, the occupant stated that she was going to eat dinner, smoke a cigarette and go to bed."

The area with the most damage was the sectional couch in Easterling's living room, the Joliet Fire Department investigation found. The fire damage was in the middle front base of couch with less damage to the outer portions of couch, Joliet fire reports show.

The heat flow of the fire at 816 Black Road was "up, out and away from (the) couch in (the) living room," Joliet Fire Department reports show.

However, the fire investigation concluded that the cause was "undetermined due to no competent heat source found."

"Due to smoke patterns and smoke/charring patterns, the estimated area of origin is in the Alpha side living room at the base of the couch against the delta interior wall between coffee table and couch," Joliet's fire investigators concluded.

The fire traveled "up, out and away from couch in living room," their reports noted.

A report from Joliet Fire Battalion Chief Jon Koch indicated that upon "my arrival, I found a one-story structure with smoke from the roof and the front of the structure ... Crews were on the interior making an attack/search, crews ventilating the roof and establishing water supply."

Koch's summary indicated a neighbor had last seen Easterling and "that she may still be in the building. Engine 1 crew located an unconscious female victim in the Charlie/Delta area of the structure. She was laying face down; head sticking out of the bathroom and in the hallway, the rest of her body in a bathroom.

"Crews removed the victim and began CPR in the front yard."

Paramedics with Joliet Fire Department Ambulance 5 brought the woman to AMITA Saint Joseph Medical Center where she was pronounced dead. around 3:40 a.m.

After the Joliet Fire Department extinguished the blaze, Koch stated that he noticed the "fire appeared to have been contained to the main living area and into the attic space above this area."

The ambulance crew from Station 5 indicated they saw smoke coming from the roof of Easterling's house while driving past. "They saw flames in the front room through the window," Koch's report reflected.

When Engine 5 crews arrived, firefighters saw smoke showing and flames in the front window. Immediately, the firefighters "had the window forced and began extinguishment from the exterior while forcing entry. "

The firefighters "then noted fire at floor level near couches in the front room," Koch's report stated.

To read Joliet Patch's original coverage of the Black Road fatal fire, go here.