Fire Kills River Forest Man A Block Away from Fire Station

RIVER FOREST, IL -- A River Forest man was found dead on the basement stairs after a fire quickly tore through a multi-family home located at the 500 block of Park Avenue, less than a minute from the fire station. The victim, 50-year-old Elipido Flores, died from soot and smoke inhalation, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Fire officials responded to a call just before 2:30 p.m. Sunday and rushed to the home in under a minute to find fire and heavy smoke coming from the property’s basement windows. Fire Chief Jim Eggert told the Chicago Tribune that two adults and two children escaped unharmed from the home’s main floor. Firefighters then made their way through thick smoke and intense heat to extinguish the fire in the home’s cluttered basement and discovered the body of Flores.

River Forest fire officials are still investigating the home to determine the cause of the blaze, but they do not suspect foul play. Fire Chief Jim Eggert told CBS that there were no smoke detectors in the basement of the home.