Hickory Hills house fire claims brothers, 5 and 3
BY STEVE METSCH smetsch@southtownstar.com September 28, 2011 1:22PM
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Updated: November 11, 2011 4:56PM
Ayoob Saleh and Raed Saleh were fun-loving boys who were “always smiling,” a relative said Wednesday.
“They were happy kids. They were normal kids, playing a lot, moving (around) a lot. They are a good family, too. Something just happened,” Mohammad Ali said.
The boys, ages 5 and 3, died after a fire swept through the Saleh
family’s home in the 8900 block of Emerald Court in Hickory Hills, family members and authorities said.
“It’s tragic, tragic. I don’t know how they’re going to get through this,” Ali said of the boys’ parents, Omar and Munera Saleh.
Ali, of Bridgeview, said his late sister once was married to the boys’ father, Omar Saleh.
Saleh, who emigrated from his native Yemen about 20 years ago, owns a gas station at 52nd Street and Western Avenue on Chicago’s South Side, Ali said. Ali works there with him.
Omar and Munera Saleh have five children, Ali said.
Ayoob, 5, and Raed, 3, were found unresponsive in an upstairs bedroom, Roberts Park Fire Protection District Chief Jeff Ketchen said.
Ali said the three older children were at school when the fire broke out.
Firefighters were notified about the house fire shortly after noon, Ketchen said.
When they arrived, they were told two children were upstairs in the back of the house, Ketchen said. Firefighters found them unresponsive in a second-floor bedroom at the front of the house, he said.
The boys’ mother was in front of the home in a state of panic when firefighters arrived, Ketchen said. She was not injured.
The fire was put out in about 15 minutes, Ketchen said. No firefighters were injured.
Ketchen said it was too early to determine a cause, but it appeared the fire started in a downstairs recreation room. The state fire marshal’s office is investigating.
Roman Stoch, 36, who lives across the cul-de-sac from the home, said he saw the fire and heard the boys’ mother screaming around noon. He ran to the house and opened the front door.
“It was brutal. Smoky. I opened the door and got about 2 feet in and I could go no further,” he said. “The smoke was overwhelming. So I ran out and tried to go in through the garage, and the smoke was just ... the flames were coming out and it was overwhelming.”
Services are pending, Ali said.
Contributing: Lauren FitzPatrick
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