Coroner releases ID of woman killed in Belleville house fire

A Belleville woman was killed and a child had to be rescued when fire destroyed a home in a historic neighborhood near downtown Tuesday.

Kirsten Tompkins, 25, was pronounced dead at the scene at about 6:40 a.m. , Coroner Calvin Dye Sr. said.

A young child, who was rescued by firefighters as the wood-frame structure in the 600 block of Rodenmeyer Street burned, was not seriously injured, Belleville Fire Department Chief J.P. Penet said.

Penet said the fire department responded quickly to the emergency call, which was made shortly after 6:30 a.m. Tuesday.

“Our crews arrived in about two minutes to find that the fire had already vented from the left side on the first floor and the second floor, so the house was fully involved,” Penet said. “Our crews made an aggressive interior attack based on the report that there were two victims trapped.”

Firefighters rescued the child from a front room in the home and took the child to the care of two adults who had managed to escape the fire on their own, Penet said.

Tompkins was found at the back of the house, already deceased, Penet said.

Penet said the fire is under investigation.

Pam Howard, a neighbor, said she heard “some popping” noises early Tuesday morning.

“I went out the back door and it was fully engulfed in flames,” said Howard, whose home is on Adams Street and her backyard is adjacent to the backyard of the Rodenmeyer Street home that burned.

Howard said firefighters and police officers were already on the scene by the time she stepped out of her back door.

“It was a pretty bad fire, I mean pretty intense,” she said. “It was blazing, blazing.”

This story was originally published January 11, 2022 at 2:12 PM.