Three die in apartment fire in Bonham

I will keep all the families affected in my thoughts and prayers. Terrible, terrible, terrible tragedy.

The cause of this fire needs to be found immediatly and those responsible held accountable for their actions. There are so many rumors right now when the truth comes out they will be laid to rest. God bless the Chesser family.

Rumors? The state fire marshall just started the investigation yesterday to determine cause. You might want to wait on the findings before talking about it.

Rumors? Yes rumors if the state was investigating the cause so well they shouldnt have released the building. My daughter almost died in this fire so i am pretty pissed off & would like some answers. So dont get all high and mighty because all I want is answers.

"Released the building"? What are you talking about? No one is getting "all high and might" about anything. You have to let the professionals do their job don't you? Let them investigate and find the reason and you'll have your answers.

Another thing that needs to be mentioned is KXII Channel 12's coverage of this story. You can go to their website and see the story about some residents being very angry with the Bonham Fire Department. Channel 12 needs to be more careful on who they interview and the intelligence of some of these people that are complaining about the BFD. Some old boy on there is even saying that Ector and Ivanhoe FD's were there before Bonham. Bonham FD had their first unit on the scene in three minutes! Three minutes. So he needs to explain how those rural FD's got there first. Anyone that saw the fire Sunday would know there is nothing any FD could have done to save the building. When the whole thing is on fire when you get there, it's a loss, nothing you can do but keep it from spreading to surrounding properties.

And everyone has heard the rumors about it being started by a meth lab. Could have been, those apartments have had some rough crowds in it through the years, but at least let the ones investigating it have the time to investigate and determine the exact cause before you start griping about everyone.

um...I think you aren't the only one that wants answers in this horrible situation and no one here is getting "high and mighty". I am sure your daughter wasn't the only one who was harmed or lost something or someone in the fire. Anonymous rightly stated that we should wait to hear what the state finds before running away with so-called rumors. I have confidence the state will do their job investigating and determining the cause of the fire. It's going to take more than a day or two to get the findings. I am sure they want to be thorough and not rush to judgment. The rumors are just that, RUMORS.

This was my sister in law and two nieces that passed away in this fire. It is a horrible thing that happened, arguing about the situation doesn't help anything. All it does it create more unnecessary drama.

This whole community is offering up their prayers, thoughts, and donations. Anything we can do to help the victims of this horrible tragedy. The only ones that are griping are the goofballs that got on channel 12 that are obviously ignorant.

I agree arguing solves nothing but I am also looking for some answers about the circumstances of this fire. In the apartment (area) of the fire across from Brandy and her children just two months ago had a fire on the stove because the residents put some beans on the stove and then left the apartment. As of what I am currently aware of the fire marshal has declared the fire origin undetermined and the owner of the apartments has hired a private company to investigate the fire. When you lose a loved one or almost lose a loved one in a fire immediate answers are not always forthcoming but it seems to me that this is just being allowed to fade away. Well we couldnt find out what caused the fire here you all salavage what you can and get the hell out. Heres you rent deposit, rental help and assistance now be gone. Unless you were there you dont know the whole truth. MY CONCERN WAS MY DAUGHTER WAS SO CLOSE TO DEATH AND I KNOW I COULDNT LIVE WITH OUT HER SO I KNOW HOW THE FAMILY FEELS.

I still don't understand who and what you are upset at? Are you suggesting there is some sort of conspiracy??

OMG I am not repeating myself anymore here. My child almost dies in a fire and YOU wonder why I am upset. LMAO!!! This conversation is done. I have said all I need to say & out of respect for the family of Brandy Chesser I have nothing more to say other than this. If someone is responsible for the fire and it was not accidental then their ass should fry for the deaths of these innocent people. May the family rest in peace.

my heart goes out to you and your family. I know it is devestating. i am going through this loss. it is excruciating. i pray that you and yours will get through this

Mad Momma wrote:

OMG I am not repeating myself anymore here. My child almost dies in a fire and YOU wonder why I am upset. LMAO!!! This conversation is done. I have said all I need to say & out of respect for the family of Brandy Chesser I have nothing more to say other than this. If someone is responsible for the fire and it was not accidental then their ass should fry for the deaths of these innocent people. May the family rest in peace.

Well of course, but you are acting like you are mad at the fire marshall or the investigators. Good grief, don't you know it takes time to properly investigate things like this? If you are in good spirits enough to "laugh your ass off", you aren't really too upset, more like immature. I swear, that must have been a congregation of ignorant people there the way they are all yapping and acting like it's the fire department's fault. Hell, it could have been intentionally set, could have been the result of illegal activity, or could have been an accident. And these ignorant asses get on tv and act like the Bonham Fire Dept got on scene and just stood around doing nothing.

My son was one of the tenents who lost their home in this fire. I can't beleive how these people were let down by their community. not only were 3 lives lost but these people are left with emotional scares that may never go away. I live in Il my poor son called me a week after this trajity and is still completely distraute at the loss of this family and lack of compittince of the fire Dept. There are rumors that this fire was intentional If so may the person responseable be put away and be haunted by the faces of these people for the rest of his life. May God hold the loved ones of this family in the palm of his hand and give you comfort.

I still fail to see how BFD is responsible for the fire? It's like you are trying to blame them for the fire itself? BFD was there in 3 minutes, the building was fully engulfed already (due to the quickly spreading fire and the materials of the building). The fire department did everything they could, but tragedies happen. I just wish everyone would step back and wait for the investigation to be completed before getting their pitchforks sharpened.

I agree, what's with all this being "let down by their community" and "lack of competence of the fire department" talk?? If you people are going to throw assinine comments out there, why don't you be specific?

I wouldnt so much blame the BFD as I would the city of Bonham since the hydrants ran out of water after a few minutes. Also what about the missing extingushers in the breezeways? So they couldnt get stolen. Yeah lots of stuff needs to be investigated but the building has been trampled in and out of for a week so if there was any evidence of wrongdoing it is long gone. Anonymous if you were on the scene within a few minutes of the blaze then you know all these things however I am curious why were you there possibly you work for BFD or the city of Bonham??

Dorothy Kush
Midlothian, IL
Reply »
|Report Abuse |Judge it!|#14 13 hrs ago
My son was one of the tenents who lost their home in this fire. I can't beleive how these people were let down by their community. not only were 3 lives lost but these people are left with emotional scares that may never go away. I live in Il my poor son called me a week after this trajity and is still completely distraute at the loss of this family and lack of compittince of the fire Dept. There are rumors that this fire was intentional If so may the person responseable be put away and be haunted by the faces of these people for the rest of his life. May God hold the loved ones of this family in the palm of his hand and give you comfort

Take a spelling & grammar course before responding please!!!!!

Dorothy Kush:
MIDLOTHIAN, Ill.

Found this in your local Topix! Guess you think your local fire dept. is to blame for this as well? Get real lady!! Terrible accidents happen, even in your nice community!

Woman's Body Found After Midlothian Fire MIDLOTHIAN, Ill.(STNG) ―

Police in south suburban Midlothian are investigating a fire in an apartment building early Monday that left a 25-year-old woman dead.

About 4:30 a.m., the Midlothian Fire Department received a 911 call about a fire in an apartment building in the 3500 block of 147th Street, fire officials said.

Crews extinguished the blaze in about 15 minutes, and during a search found the body of a woman in a rear bedroom, according to Midlothian police Chief Vince Schavone.

The woman was identified as Kimberly Johnson, 25, of the 147th Street address, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.

The fire was contained to one unit of the building, which is a single-story complex containing three apartments, Schavone said.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation by the Illinois State Fire Marshal's office, Midlothian police and the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force.

Schavone said investigators are looking into the possibility that the fire was arson, but during a search with a police dog they did not find any traces of accelerant on the premises.

Several families are seeking alternative housing following the blaze, fire officials said.

(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

Terrible accidents happen, even in your nice community!
Proud Tax Payer are you saying that Bonham is not a nice community? Funny how people start judging grammer and spelling and others communities instead of sticking to the issue at hand. I do have a question for the BFD tho. That is since they knew they only had 500 gallons of water on the truck and that this fire was out of control when they arrived on scene how come they didnt have someone hooking up to the hydrant while they were spraying the 500 gallons?