DeKALB – Authorities have determined an early-morning fire that left a man dead began on the stove in the apartment where the incident occurred.
Firefighters were called at 2:13 a.m. to 630 N. Annie Glidden Road, to Apartment 402 in the University Village housing complex, according to DeKalb Fire Chief Bruce Harrison.
The damage was confined to an apartment, Harrison said. The occupant, Steven D. Thompson, 34, was pronounced dead at 3:35 a.m. at the scene of the fire by Dave Jacobson, DeKalb County chief deputy coroner.
“I'm saddened by the loss of life,” Harrison said. “Our sympathies are with the family and friends of the victim.”
A news release from the DeKalb County Coroner's Office states that no foul play is suspected at this time. However, the fire and death remain under investigation by the DeKalb Fire Department, the DeKalb Police Department and the DeKalb County Coroner's Office.
DeKalb Police Lt. Gary Spangler said no one else was injured in the fire. There was an additional ambulance on the scene, Harrison said, but it was for a reason unrelated to the fire.
The call came after a resident in the building reported the smell of smoke, Spangler said. Fire crews entered the first-floor apartment and found some remnants of a fire and a lot of smoke, Harrison said. The building – which has about six apartments in it – had to be evacuated.
Ethel Smith, who lives in the apartment building, said she called 911 after she smelled and saw smoke coming in through her vents.
"The first thing that came to my mind was to call police," she said. "They told me if I didn't use my head and call, this whole building could have gone up."
Smith said she was awake at the time of the fire, but didn't recall hearing a smoke alarm. When she saw smoke, she went to her kitchen to make sure it wasn't coming from her apartment.
"I was scared, but I was trying to be calm," she said. "I hope I don't have to go through that again."
Firefighters encountered heavy smoke in the apartment but very little heat, according to a news release from the DeKalb Fire Department. They discovered the fire had self-extinguished, and no water was needed.
At some point, officials found Thompson in the apartment and notified police, Spangler said.
Investigators have determined that the fire, which caused an estimated $30,000 in damage, was caused by a cooking fire.
The back burners on the top of the stove were found in the on position, according to the news release. The back right burner had a broken pot with unknown contents, and a pan was sitting on the back left burner with “heavy charred contents of an unknown item,” according to the news release.
“Everything right now is pointing to it being accidental,” Spangler said about 6 a.m. “There is nothing suspicious and no foul play indicated.”
Investigators could not determine if the smoke alarm was operating properly at the time of the fire, according to the news release. Crews were on the scene until about 6:45 a.m.
The DeKalb fire and police departments, along with the Illinois State Fire Marshal and DeKalb County Coroner's Office, are investigating. Spangler said an autopsy and toxicology reports are pending.
The DeKalb County chapter of the American Red Cross is assisting those affected by the fire, as is the property management of University Village.