Waukegan kindergartner dies from smoke inhalation
BY DAN MORAN dmoran@stmedianetwork.com November 9, 2012 7:58PM
Maria Martinez hugs her son Christian Guzman, 11, with family friend Nely Borahona in front of the Martinez home at 1534 Jenkinson Court in Waukegan. The rental property was the site of a basement fire that killed her 5 year-old daughter Daniela Martinez. | Thomas Delany Jr~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: December 11, 2012 6:15AM
Daniela Martinez’s father tried to find the 5-year-old after smoke from a basement fire filled their Waukegan home Friday.
And when two firefighters found her hiding in a downstairs bathroom, they began performing CPR immediately.
But these efforts were in vain. The Whittier Elementary School kindergartner died from smoke inhalation.
The fire was reportedly ignited in a laundry basket full of linens near the girl, who was playing with matches or a lighter, Waukegan Fire Marshall Steve Lenzi said.
It took firefighters at least 10 minutes to find Daniela in the smoke-filed labyrinth-like basement, authorities said.
“This was a fire that produced copious amounts of smoke — there was so much smoke that the fire almost smothered itself,” said Waukegan Fire Chief Dan Young.
According to Lenzi, an investigation of the residence revealed that there was one smoke detector in the basement that had a missing battery. Young said there were no smoke detectors located on the main floor.
“It’s a real tragedy,” Lenzi said, imploring parents to make sure their smoke detectors work. “There were some adults in the home and a working smoke detector probably could have prevented this.”
Young said that the single-family residence, in the in the 1500 block of Jenkinson Court, was a rental unit that appeared to have “multiple sleeping areas in the basement, as well on the first floor, with locked doors.”
Ten people were displaced because of the fire.
On Friday, Daniela’s mother, Maria Martinez, stood silently on the front sidewalk and spoke with investigators.
She was comforted by her 11-year-old son, Christian, and family friend, Nely Borohona, who said Daniela had lived in the house about three months and loved watching “Dora the Explorer.”
Friday’s tragedy was the first fire fatality in Waukegan since May 2010, when a man set fire to his home on the 400 block of Julian Street in an apparent suicide.
Contributing: Brian Slodysko
