9th child dies after fire in Chicago's Little Village; victims range in age from 3 months to 16 years old



CHICAGO -- Officials said a ninth child has died after a fire in Chicago's Little Village on Sunday, Aug. 26. Cesar Contreras, 14, was identified as the ninth victim, according to WGN.

Investigators are trying to determine the cause. The investigation involves Chicago’s Bomb and Arson Squad, the Office of Fire Investigations and the ATF. They have ruled out electrical and will most likely rule out arson.  They are looking at fireworks remains that were on the back porch and smoking material, including cigarettes.

The building failed four of seven inspections in the last three years, WGN is reporting.

The fire happened around 4 a.m. Sunday during a sleepover in a second-floor unit of a coach house in the 2200 block of South Sacramento Avenue, where older siblings were watching over the younger ones.

The children killed range in age from 3 months to 16 years old. Two teenagers remain in critical condition at Stroger Hospital.



Three of the victims have been identified as Ariel Garcia, 5, Xavier Contreras, 11 and Nathan Contreras, 13.

On Monday, firefighters handed out smoke detectors for free to everyone on the block where the tragedy happened.

"When we lose one life, it's too many lives, so today, it's even more critical because we lost eight people to a fire and that's unheard of in the city of Chicago. We haven't lost this many people, I can't even count back to when we lost this many lives, and these are young people," said Chicago Fire Department Deputy Chief Annette Nance Holt.

A memorial for the children with crosses, stuffed animals and balloons is growing  near the scene of the tragedy.

GoFundMe has been set up to help the family cover burial costs.