Seven Killed in Chicago Arson; Husband Held

CHICAGO —  A fire that authorities said was set by an arsonist swept a four-story apartment house Tuesday, killing seven people and injuring nine others as residents leaped out of windows. Police arrested a man whose wife and 2-year-old son were among the dead.

Police Detective Thomas Shine said the suspect, Madison Hobley, 26, was charged with seven counts of murder.

Shine said Hobley was at the scene of the fire and at first was questioned as a witness. He was scheduled to appear today in Cook County Circuit Court.

Flames shot from the roof and dense smoke poured from the windows of the 32-apartment, brick building on the city’s South Side. Fire officials said that residents reported hearing an explosion before the fire began.

“It sounded like two gunshots,” said Jerry Cathey, one of those who escaped unharmed. “All of a sudden, the flames just went.”

“It was a nightmare,” said Alphea Tucker, 34, whose brother, Anthony Bradford, 35, was among those killed in the blaze. “I heard the smoke detectors and I opened the door, and all I saw was smoke. I closed the door and grabbed my baby and my son.”

Fire officials said that four people had jumped from the building by the time they arrived, and 30 to 40 others were led down ladders to safety.

Of the nine people injured, at least four suffered broken bones and cuts from jumping out of windows.

Jerry Lawrence of the fire department said the intense heat and rapid spreading of the flames through a front stairwell led officials to believe the fire was set.