Five people, three of them children, died Thursday night in a fire in a South Side house, authorities said.
Later, a blaze at a West Side house killed at 42-year-old man, fire officials said.
The victims in the South Side fire were believed to be a mother and father and their three children, according to Sgt. John Keane of the police bomb and arson unit.
When firefighters arrived shortly before 9 p.m., flames were shooting out of basement windows at the 1 1/2-story brick home at 6548 S. Hermitage Ave., fire officials said. The fire was put out by about 9:25 p.m., they said.
The fire apparently started on a stove in the family`s 3 1/2-room basement apartment, according to Keane. It destroyed the basement apartment and damaged the apartment above, he said.
Keane said a number of people were in the upper apartment but they escaped uninjured.
He identified the victims as JoAnn Reed, 20; Eric Bradley, 21; and their children, Dominique Reed, 2; Jesse Bradley, 1; and Eric Bradley, 2 months.
JoAnn Reed was taken to St. Bernard Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 9:37 p.m., according to a hospital spokeswoman. Eric Bradley and the 2-month-old baby were taken to St. Bernard as well, the spokeswoman said. They were pronounced dead at 10:45 p.m., she said.
The 2-year-old child was taken to Holy Cross Hospital, a hospital spokeswoman said. The child was pronounced dead at 9:35 p.m., she said.
The 1-year-old boy was taken to University of Chicago Hospitals. He was pronounced dead at 9:58 p.m., the spokesman said.
In the second fire, a 42-year-old man died in a blaze that destroyed the house in the 4300 block of West Monore Street, Keane said.
The man`s name was being withheld until his relatives could be notified, he said.
