Man, 85, Killed In Bolingbrook House Fire: Coroner

BOLINGBROOK, IL — An 85-year-old man was pronounced dead after a house fire on Bellflower Lane on Thursday night in Bolingbrook, according to the Will County Coroner's Office.

The coroner's office has identified the Bolingbrook resident as Everett Pope Jr. Pope was the victim of a house fire, and was pronounced dead at 1:50 a.m. on Friday.

The Bolingbrook Fire Department said it received a call at 11:40 p.m. Thursday for a structure fire, and arrived to find a fire in the basement of the home and a resident, now identified as Pope, still inside the home on the second floor.

Firefighters immediately entered the home to perform a search and attempt rescue, while others started applying water on the fire, the fire department told Patch. Soon after starting their search, firefighters encountered "an extreme amount" of smoke, heat and fire.

The fire had also compromised the structure of the floor on the first level of the home.

"These fire conditions encountered by the firefighters were too extreme, causing them to evacuate and change tactics," the department said.

Firefighters continued to work to extinguish the basement fire, and several others began another search and rescue attempt. The department said firefighters deployed ladders to gain access to the Pope, and were able to find and remove them from the home.

Emergency medical treatment was started, however, efforts to resuscitate Pope were not successful, the department said. No information has been released about the person's identity.

The Bolingbrook Police Department along with the Illinois State Fire Marshall and the Bolingbrook Fire Department are investigating the incident.