A St. Charles fire captain says the fire in the duplex at 405 Emmons early Sunday morning spread very quickly. The father was down stairs... His baby boy upstairs asleep in his crib with his bedroom door open.
The father got out but could not get back inside so save his son. Captain Dan Casey says had the dad had a little more notification of the smoke before it got out of hand, perhaps he could have gotten his child out of there.
Instead, according to a neighbor, the dad did everything he could from the outside... stacking garbage bins, trying to reach his son's bedroom window. He ultimately led firefighters back there who used a ladder to get up there. They broke out the window but the child had already died in his crib.
The State Fire Marshal is investigating the cause but Captain Casey says it appears to be an accident.
Neighbors are holding a vigil around 8:30 Sunday night in the child's memory and to pray for his family.
Mark Schnyder is a reporter at KMOV-TV. He can be reached at mschnyder@kmov.com.
