1. Fire Kills Six Children
The North of Howard neighborhood was dealt a devastating blow when a fire swept through an apartment building at 7706 N. Marshfield in September, killing six children and seriously injuring two others. All but one of the children were from the same family.
The Chicago Fire Dept. concluded the fire was caused by candles the family had been using for light, when electric service to their residence was discontinued in May for nonpayment of the utility bill.
City fire investigators also confirmed that there were no smoke detectors in the apartment unit where the fire occurred, although the building owner said a September 2005 inspection of the apartment by the management company confirmed the presence of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.
The building's owner, Jay Johnson, of the Cornerstone Investment Group, also sits on Ald. Joe Moore's, 49th, Zoning Advisory Board and is a frequent Moore campaign contributor. The Marshfield building is one of several affordable housing properties owned by Johnson, for which he receives federal tax credits.
The families of the six children who died in the he Sept. 3 fire filed a lawsuit against Johnson later the same month, claiming that he had failed to maintain adequate smoke detectors in the family's apartment and that it was unsafe.
Alderman Moore drew outrage from community residents for his continued defense of Johnson, who he said would remain on his Zoning Advisory Committee until he was "proven of wrong doing." A call for a City Council hearing into the fire is on hold pending the outcome of families' lawsuit.
From the Pioneer News Star
7 comments:
Hooray! The Ramirez family has been successfully pimped again! Any decent reader would be offended. Shame on you. Move on and stop using this family's tragedy.
Better to let the Ramirez children and Scarlett Ramos die in vain than to proactively address Joe's slumlord, campaign contributing buddies and their substandard tenaments, to prevent more future human loss and injury.
> stop using this family's tragedy.
My god you are brainwashed to make such a stupid statement. If anyone was used it was the Ramirez family and the user was Johnson. If anyone is still being used, it's the tenants of slumlords and the taxpayers who pump money for the 70% in the bank of people like Johnson.
Have you walked North of Howard and looked at some of the conditions or are you sitting behind your screen in another area of RP that isn't the dumping ground of the poor?
Toni - Don't you also live North of Howard? Is your building or house a slum? Why do you insist on calling your own neighborhood as a slum? Why do you stay? It has gotten better since you moved in hasn't it? It must have unless you have been there for 30 or 40 years. It doesn't make sense that you stay if you are so unhappy. Are you basically an irrational person?
This is a typical issue that tears some people in two. It is sad to see children die because they are living in substandard conditions.
On the other hand, these parents made the mistake. Sure they came here and wanted a better life for themselves and their children, but they could not accomplish those goals and the children paid the price with their lives.
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