2018 Little Village fire
On August 26, 2018, a fire began early that morning in Chicago's Mexican-American Little Village neighborhood. The fire killed ten children, including six children under the age of 12. Investigators stated that the fire started in the back of the building in a ground-floor apartment, which was vacant. The fire is the deadliest residential fire to have occurred in Chicago since 1958. In the aftermath of the fire, multiple violations were found in the apartment where the fire occurred with apartment owner, Merced Gutierrez, appearing in court for the 40 violations found at  the site of the fire. Background. On February 22, 2017, a fire broke out in the living room of a vacant first-floor apartment at the rear of the building. No one was injured. In March 2018, Illinois's Department of Children and Family Services were called investigated a hotline call that one of the sons of the mother who lived at the apartment came to school looking dirty and smelling of marijuana. Fire. The fatal fire started at around 3 a.m. CDT on August 26, 2018, at an apartment building at 2200 block of South Sacramento Avenue, about 45  minutes before a witness called 911 at 3:45 a.m. to report flames shooting through the windows of the second-floor rear unit. Children, ranging in age from 3 months to 16 years, were at a sleepover at the apartment. The investigation by the Chicago Fire Department indicated that the fire was the result of a smoldering item in the apartment that morning. Arson and foul play were ruled out. No adults were present in the apartment during the fire. An exact cause to the fire is still undetermined. Eight children died immediately in the fire while two were hospitalized under  critical condition at the John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County and died two later. Victims. The 10 children who died in the fire were nine first cousins and a family friend: Investigation. Fire officials initially said they did not find any smoke detectors in the second-floor rear unit, but they later said they did find a smoke detector without batteries. The department had investigated the mother who lived there, predominantly on allegations of inadequate supervision, 21 times since 2004. The complaints were verified in two instances, including one in 2013 when her then-8-year-old son, who  had autism, got out of the home and was found wandering in traffic. Aftermath. Many criticized Illinois' the Department of Children and Family Services as they were previously summoned to the department and disregarded the hazards. In a statement, the department said it tries to be as proactive as possible to prevent neglect when investigating struggling families. In months before the fire, there were 21 complaints against a mother of one of the victims, another complaint was verified in 2015. The mother was cited for endangerment when her 16-year-old daughter used a 7-month-old relative in a  stroller to help them with a theft. A memorial service for six of the children was held on September 1 at noon at Our Lady of Tepeyac Church. The Chicago Fire Department handed out smoke detectors to the neighborhood while raising awareness of its importance. Mayor Rahm Emanuel in a statement regarding the fire said: "Our thoughts go out to not only the families of those who perished but to members of the department who pushed as hard as possible to reverse the deadly fate of the eight who are now gone". Violations. Chicago Department of Buildings' Strategic Task Force  found 38 violations in the front building, including missing or defective smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, defective light fixtures and armored cable and electrical wiring and plumbing installed without permits. Six more violations were found during a separate inspection of the rear coach house. The owner of the apartment, 80 year old Merced Gutierrez, was criticized and blamed for the fire for causing many violations at the apartment. As a result of the violations, Gutierrez appeared in court on August 30 and was ordered to no longer rent anyone the apartment. The city will conduct another inspection on December 4  with another hearing on the code violations is set two days later.