Update: Heights Fire Injures Firefighter and Kills Dog

It turns out a fire that killed a dog and destroyed a home earlier today also led to a firefighter's injury.

An unnamed Chicago Heights firefighter sustained a hand injury from his equipment while attempting to douse a fire that broke out in Carol Zucker’s Chicago Heights home in the 400 block of Gail Lane at around 1:30 p.m Thursday, according to fire department officials.

While firefighters were securing the residence and putting out the fire, Fire Chief Tom Martello was outside contacting the Fire Marshal and talking to Zucker. Ald. Joseph Faso and Streets and Sewers Department Director Michael Sabo were also on the scene.

“(The owners) had been home an hour (before the fire started),” said Martello. “An hour later, the place was blazing.”

The Zucker’s dog, Shana, was home, however. She was killed in the blaze.

Neighbor Judy Parker called the Fire Department after witnessing smoke pouring out of the home from her back window.

“I thought it might have been a cookout at first,” said Parker. “Then I realized (the smoke) was coming off of the roof of the house, so I called the fire department and as I was talking to them, the flames started.”

While the fire department arrived quickly enough to put out the fire in the two-story house,  the bedroom was destroyed and the roof had collapsed, Parker said.

There has not yet been an official determination of the cause of the fire.