Coroner identifies woman killed in Granite City fire

The victim of a fatal fire in Granite City on Monday morning has been identified as a 60-year-old woman.

Madison County Chief Deputy Coroner Roger Smith said Debra J. Condor died in the fire.

Condor was pronounced dead at 10:15 a.m. at the home “after failing to escape” the flames, Smith wrote in a statement.

GUEST BOOK: Express your condolences to the family of Debra Condor

Preliminary autopsy results indicated the cause of Condor’s death “could be consistent with smoke inhalation,” but a precise determination won’t be made until further toxicology tests are completed.

Smith also noted that Condor suffered from a chronic medical condition that “may have inhibited her ability to exit the home.”

Firefighters from the Long Lake Volunteer Fire Department were first called to the home on Courtney Boulevard in unincorporated Granite City at 8:16 a.m. Monday. Chief Terry Kreher said heavy fire and smoke poured from the living room and front bedroom windows and out the roof.

Kreher said firefighters knocked the fire down from the outside before moving into the home. He said they found Condor in the front bedroom.

Condor lived in the home with an elderly woman. According to neighbor Janet Bailey, the elderly woman escaped the fire and was in the care of the Red Cross.

Bailey said she had just put her great grandchildren on a school bus when she heard what sounded like an explosion. When she went outside, she saw the front of the house engulfed.

“That’s something scary. I’ve never seen anything like that,” Bailey said.

Only Condor and the elderly woman lived in the house, but four more people lived in a detached garage on the property. One of them—a man who Kreher believed was related to Condor—attempted to rescue Condor, but he was unsuccessful. The man was transported to a hospital for minor burns.

This story was originally published March 21, 2016 at 4:37 PM with the headline "Coroner identifies woman killed in Granite City fire."