WEST HUMBOLDT PARK — Police are reopening an investigation into a West Humboldt Park house fire after one of the residents died from his injuries, officials said.
The April 7 fire tore through a two-story home in the 800 block of North St. Louis Avenue. Kyron McAllister, 59, was hospitalized and died April 12, authorities said. His cause of death has not yet been determined. The fire also killed several animals and displaced two housemates and one dog.
Detectives initially ruled the fire an accident and closed the case, police said. The Office of Fire Investigation said the blaze was started by a person, but a spokesperson said the Fire Department typically does not rule a fire as arson unless the cause is exceedingly obvious.
Police confirmed Thursday detectives reopened the case this week after McAllister died. More details were not provided.
McAllister’s family could not immediately be reached for comment.
The news about the investigation was a welcome sign for his former housemates, who have pressured law enforcement to scrutinize how the fire started. It happened a few hours after a former roommate was kicked out of the home following a machete attack, two housemates said.
“That is excellent and good to hear,” Darius Johnson said of the investigation. “Police need to work on solving and getting to the bottom of this because it’s insane.”
McAllister, whose bedroom was on the first floor, tried to put out the fire but collapsed from smoke inhalation, the housemates previously said. Firefighters rescued him and took him to Stroger Hospital, according to the police report.
Johnson, whose bedroom was upstairs, woke up after hearing a smoke alarm and escaped the burning building via the roof. He called his housemate’s death a tragedy on top of an already difficult situation.
“That’s an absolute tragedy, which makes me feel all the more grateful for my escaping just in time,” Johnson said.
A GoFundMe for the housemates, who lost all of their belongings and possessions, has raised over $500 to help them buy essentials and get a new apartment, they said. Neighbors also have donated clothes, personal hygiene items, food and more.
“We are slowly getting our lives back together. Darius and I are back to work and on our way to recovery,” housemate Ben Talley said.
The pair are staying in the suburbs temporarily and hope to move back to the city soon — and adopt Onyx, their former housemate’s dog. Onyx was abandoned and is undergoing tests.
Talley said the fire and the aftermath is only settling in now. He wrote a song to honor McAllister, whom his family called Troy, he said.
McAllister was a research technician. He worked at Rush University for 16 years and joined Northwestern University’s Feinberg Cardiovascular and Renal Research Institute last year, according to his LinkedIn and Facebook page.
McAllister co-published over 20 medical research papers about orthopedics, cell biology, macrophage and more, according to his research profile and family posts.
McAllister was the quiet one of the house and had lived there for about a year, Johnson and Talley said. They rarely saw him because he was often at work, but Johnson recalled him as a socially aware and kind person.
Johnson remembers taking the bus home one evening after moving into the home a year ago, he said. McAllister was on the same bus, but Johnson didn’t recognize him because he had only met him quickly once, he said. After having switching buses due to a bus problem, the two struck up a conversation sitting next to each other, he said.
When their stop arrived, both got off, but Johnson at first thought McAllister was following him.
“Then we pull out our keys at the same time, and I look up, so confused … and he says, ‘You know I live with you, right?'” Johnson said. “It was a funny memory.”
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