EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — Two people were killed over the weekend in an East St. Louis house fire.
The East St. Louis Fire Department said the fire happened around 5 Saturday morning on the 500 block of North 13th Street in a boarding house where three men and one woman lived.
The woman and an older man died in the fire. Authorities had not released their names as of Monday afternoon.
Wayne Wallace lives next door.
“The fire department was banging on my window to get out. I thought my house was on fire. It was very scary and a big fire,” Wallace said. “...When I jumped out of my bed and looked out, I could see the flames, the reflection, from the house across the street."
Wallace said before firefighters arrived, a man his 30s jumped out of a second-story window and another man, possibly in his 60s, got out in the nick of time.
“The guy who jumped out of the window got out of the hospital today and then the older man who got out that side door, he walks with a cane. I’m so glad they both survived,” Wallace added.
Wallace said initially the woman was standing outside, but then she ran back inside the burning building to try and save her friend.
Both died in the fire.
“She was a nice lady, helped everybody. He was nice. He was outgoing. He was a pretty good guy,” Wallace said. “...I just hate it. Every time I come home, I’m traumatized because I got to look at that and know people died next door to me. It’s unfortunate. All my love goes out to their family."
The cause of the fire was not immediately known.
An American Red Cross spokesperson said the nonprofit was working to assist those impacted by the fire.