A family in Crete, Illinois, is grappling with unimaginable loss after a devastating house fire claimed the lives of three young girls and their grandfather.
Firefighters from Crete rushed to the scene just before 1 a.m. on Wednesday, responding to reports of a blaze on Chalet Court.
In an exclusive conversation with ABC7, the uncles of the girls shared their heartbreak on Saturday.
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Tragically, Kassidy James had just celebrated her 16th birthday when the fire broke out, claiming her life along with her two younger sisters and their grandfather, as the inferno engulfed their home.
“How could this happen when we just saw them?” expressed Charles James, the girls’ uncle, struggling to comprehend the sudden loss.
The family had been joyously marking a milestone birthday, only to be plunged into sorrow with the loss of four beloved family members the following day.
“They were full of life, full of joy, celebrating with their younger cousins, you know, my children,” Charles James said. “It was really devastating when I broke the news to my two children. So, everybody’s been taking it pretty hard.”
Charles and Edward James are the paternal uncles of 16-year-old Kassidy, 11-year-old Mary, and 7-year-old Ivory James. They say the three sisters were likely asleep when the fire broke out early Wednesday morning just before one at their home in Crete.
“It appeared to me that they never had a chance because all of them were found in bedrooms,” Charles James said.
“Arrived on scene to see the house up in flames. They were carrying the bodies out by that time,” Edward James said. “That was the gut check moment, as they call it, where you knew it was real.”
The flames also claimed the life of their grandfather, 71-year-old Walter Palmer, who began raising the girls when their mother, who was his daughter, died.
“We do know it was smoke inhalation, so I mean – you don’t know what their last moments were like,” Edward James said. “You hope that it was not painful, but yes, that’s the hard part to process.”
The sisters’ father is now planning to lay his little girls to rest.
“The Heavens make no mistakes, but it’s a tragic loss for us all, and we’re thankful for the time that we had,” Edward James said.
The James family is now raising funds for the sisters’ funeral.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Illinois State Fire Marshal’s Office. The Will County Coroner’s Office and Crete police are also investigating.
Crete-Monee School District 201-U said in a social media post that two students from Monee Elementary and one Crete-Monee High School student were killed in the fire. The school district said it is increasing support at its schools.
“This is a devastating time for our school community. Out of respect for the family’s privacy and because circumstances are still being confirmed, we cannot share additional details at this time. We are all grieving together, and we will do everything we can to support our students, staff, and families in the days ahead,” the district said.
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