Neil Ingram of Des Plaines was awakened by his 15-year-old daughter early Sunday after she heard glass breaking and noticed a strange glow behind her blinds.
The house next door in the 1600 block of Van Buren Street was in flames.
Ingram ran out of his own home, banged on his neighbors’ front door, yelled into the basement vent windows, honked the horn of his van and did everything he could to awaken the residents of the rooming house.
Two occupants of the basement apartments escaped, as did two men renting rooms on the main level. But the two men living on the second story died as a result of the early-morning blaze.
Kevin Dwyer, 31, and Pete Lennard, 32, were found unconscious and taken to Holy Family Hospital in Des Plaines, where they were treated for smoke inhalation. Both were pronounced dead there an hour later at 6:10 a.m.
Des Plaines fire officials said the upper-story apartments had only one exit and the two men were trapped in their rooms by the fire. Des Plaines firefighters and the state fire marshal’s office were investigating the cause. Sources close to the investigation said the fire may have started because of an electrical short in a guitar amplifier.
Lennard had lived in the house for about three years; Dwyer moved in about six months ago. Both were longtime residents of the area, neighbors said.
Fran Morava lives behind the rooming house, and her daughter and Lennard knew each other from high school.
Lennard, a plumber, was always quick to lend a hand, Morava said. Whenever she had a leaky faucet or a flooding problem, Lennard would fix it.
Lennard recently started a new job at a hospital, Morava said.
On Sunday, Ingram said that as he honked his van’s horn, he briefly saw either Dwyer or Lennard leaning out of a window. Ingram told the man firefighters were on the way.
But Ingram said that as he approached the house to see whether he could help the person escape, he saw thick smoke billow from the window before the man disappeared into the room.
