A 2-year-old girl was killed and her mother seriously injured after a fire broke out at their Indiana mobile home on Thursday, according to local reports.
The “intense” flames began around 2:30 p.m. at the home in the Ravinia Pines Mobile Home Community in New Chicago, New Chicago Fire Chief Evin Eakins told WMAQ.
Eakins told WBBM that the thick smoke was visible for miles, and made it difficult for his crews to gain access to the residence.
Once they did, they reportedly found an adult woman unconscious in a back bedroom, and were able to pull her out to safety. She was airlifted to University of Chicago Medical Center, where her condition remained unknown, according to the outlet.
It was only after speaking with neighbors that fire crews realized the woman’s young daughter was still trapped inside.
Eakins said firefighters eventually went back into the home to rescue the girl after “reducing” the flames, and found her in the living room.
“We all have families. You never just get used to stuff like this,” he told WMAQ. “I’m heartbroken for the family and everybody involved. My firefighters, I’m heartbroken for them. It’s just a sad situation.”
Neighbor Mark Nibbe told the outlet he witnessed the moment the child’s distraught father came home from work, only to find his house fully engulfed in flames.
“He was going all around the trailer, banging on everything he could bang on, panicking,” Nibbe said. “Cops took him away so he didn’t get burned himself.
Meanwhile, the blaze also spread to two neighboring homes, and destroyed the residence of neighbor Luis Alvarado-Santiago, who told WMAQ he and his family “lost everything.”
Eakins reportedly said the fire is not suspicious, but the cause remains under investigation. It remains unclear whether the home had any working smoke detectors.
A spokesperson for the New Chicago Fire Department was not able to be reached by PEOPLE for comment.
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