5-year-old girl killed in Chicago house fire

CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) - A little girl was killed and eight people were displaced in a house fire Friday morning in Englewood on the South Side, authorities said.

The fire broke out about 7 a.m. at a home in the 5800 block of South May Street and spread to two other homes, according to Chicago police.

Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Merritt said family members were trying to search the home when firefighters arrived. They were removed from the building and crews started a search at the same time as the first hose line began working on the fire.

Firefighters found the girl on a bunk bed “burned beyond recognition,” Merritt said.

Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford says firefighters haven't found evidence of working smoke detectors on the floor where the child was sleeping.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office identified her as 5-year-old Katlyn Jefferies. Her exact age was not immediately known.

Six children and two adults were displaced as a result of the fire, police said.

The blaze was put out by about 7:30 a.m., Merritt said. The cause remains under investigation.