One person died and two others were injured in a July 26 fire at the Orr-Weathers Apartments in East St. Louis. Firefighters arrived at the 7-story public housing complex on the 1400 block of Missouri just after 2 a.m.
Most of the residents at Orr-Weathers are elderly or disabled. The two people who are injured suffered minor burns. Arthur Jefferson, 60, was transported to an area hospital where he died from his injuries around 3:40.
Firefighters said a couch and a table in a fourth-floor hallway were on fire when they arrived, trapping some of the residents on the fourth floor and all of the residents on the floors 5-7. Some residents held wet towels over their faces to protect themselves from smoke inhalation. Jefferson lived on the fourth floor, down the hall from where officials believe the fire began.
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Fire crews brought the blaze under control within a couple of hours. At 4:30 residents of the floors above the fire (5-8) were allowed to return to their units. After that, residents of the first three floors were allowed to return to theirs. Extensive Soot, smoke and water damage on the fourth floor made it impossible for those residents to return to their units. The Red Cross worked to find them shelter.
The fire attorneys at Pritzker Hageman have successfully represented clients who were injured and those who lost loved ones in apartment fires including a multi-million-dollar settlement for clients who injured in a blaze caused by upholstered furniture.
Our attorneys are not paid unless they win. When they take a fire case, our lead attorneys for these cases, Fred Pritzker and Eric Hageman, conduct their own investigation, gathering evidence, hiring experts and determining all liable parties. And our firm pays these expenses during the litigation process. To contact them for a free, no-obligation consultation call 1 (888) 377-8900 toll-free. Or, use this online form.