Chicago fire kills wheelchair user, mother who tried to save him

From WGN-TV:

The two brothers smashed a window from outside their burning home and tried to pull their elderly mother to safety, away from the smoke filling her lungs.

Calvin Lott slapped her face, trying to wake her up. Cedric Lott grabbed her arm, but the two men said they couldn't get her out.

"I couldn't save my mom," Cedric Lott, 47, said in tears. "... She was right there."

The brothers believe their mother, Maxine Toledo, 76, stayed inside the burning West Side two-flat to try to help her son Joe Lott, 55, who had multiple sclerosis and used a wheelchair.

The two were killed by the fire that engulfed their Galewood neighborhood home early Monday. Calvin, Cedric and their sister Claudia Lott were able to escape; they were treated and released at hospitals for smoke inhalation.

Investigators believe the fire in the 1600 block of North McVicker Avenue was caused by a space heater, according to Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford.

"The last thing I remember is my brother calling out my name, asking me to save him," said Calvin Lott, 45, weeping at West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park as he recounted the scene from hours earlier. "I lost my brother. I did everything in my power to save him.

"I've got to live with that for the rest of my life."

Fire investigators determined that the blaze in the 1600 block of North McVicker Avenue was caused by a space heater in a rear first-floor bedroom used by Joe Lott, said Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford. It had been placed too close to something flammable, possibly his bed, Langford said. Joe Lott's body was found in the room.

Authorities said he died at the scene while Toledo was pronounced dead at the Oak Park hospital.

The home had working smoke detectors, and the siblings, who were awake around the time the blaze began, said they remember hearing the alarm.

The surviving brothers said neither was able to reach Joe Lott's bedroom because of the intense smoke.

Both ran outside to escape the smoke and realized their mother was still inside. That was when they smashed the window and tried in vain to pull her out.

Calvin Lott said she appeared unconscious, but when he slapped her face, she opened her mouth and started breathing. Then a chunk of plaster fell from the ceiling onto her face, Lott said, "and she was gone."

He said he rode next to her in the ambulance, pleading, "Momma, wake up."

The brothers said firefighters at the scene had restrained them from going back inside for their brother, warning the smoke would be fatal.

Cedric Lott said he had regularly shoveled snow from entryways to their home -- especially a ramp in the back -- because of fears his brother would be trapped in an emergency.

"And he still didn't make it," said Claudia Lott, 49, in tears.

Family members said Joe Lott was extremely patient and kind. He loved fishing, playing guitar and watching sports.

Relatives said the only time he grew aggravated was when his beloved Chicago Bears lost.

He had multiple sclerosis since he was in his 30s, family members said.

Relatives said Toledo had diabetes as well as arthritis that hurt her knees and likely made it harder for her to escape. She had six children and many grandchildren and served as a surrogate mom to many in the neighborhood, family members said.

"She tried to see good in everybody," said Cedric Lott, adding that with her death, he had lost his best friend.