By Adam Sege
January 9, 2014
The first firefighters saw flames bursting through the windows of a small white house and a badly burned man lying in the front yard, barely alive, with two little boys at his side.
photo courtesy chicagotribune.com
“There’s three more in there,” the man screamed, pointing toward the house, according to Hammond Chief Fire Inspector Michael Opinker.
Firefighters rushed toward the home, but the front and side doors were blocked and they went to the back, where a blast of heat pushed them away, Opinker said.
When they finally made it inside, they found three young children dead: 7-month-old Jayden Young, his 3-year-old sister Alexia Young and their 4-year-old brother Dasani Young. All of them suffered burns.
Jayden was about 5 feet inside door, Opinker said. Just feet away, his older sister and brother were holding onto each other.
“They were found holding each other,” he said. “That broke my heart.”
Their father, Andre Young, 27, was in critical condition with third-degree burns at Stroger Hospital, according to hospital spokeswoman Marisa Kollias. The boys, ages 2 and 6, were in critical but stable condition, she said.