Three people confirmed dead in Belleville house fire. Coroner releases identities

Three men are confirmed dead after an early-morning house fire in Belleville Monday.

Belleville Fire Chief Stephanie Mills confirmed the body of one adult has been removed from the first floor of the home in the 100 block of South 13th Street, near the intersection of West Lincoln. Because the frame house is structurally unstable, a cadaver dog was brought in to search the second floor for the two additional victims believed to have still been inside, she said.

St. Clair County Coroner Calvin Dye Sr. released the identities of the three people now confirmed dead in the blaze. They are George R. Pappas, 79, Pioquinto J. Pappas, 39, and Christopher D. Ellis, 20. All were residents of the house, Dye said.

The fire department was alerted to the blaze at about 5:20 a.m. First responders that arrived at the scene by 5:24 a.m. reported “heavy fire throughout the first floor,” Mills said.

And there was “heavy smoke and heat pushing out the windows on the second floor,” she said. Firefighters went to the side door on the north side of the frame house and “they were able to pull one person out.”

“Several” other adults and a child escaped the single-family frame home, Mills said. There were no other reported injuries from the scene.

The fire was mostly extinguished by 8:30 a.m., but fire fighters were still spraying smoldering spots and smoke was still billowing from the interior of the building.

The remains of a structure toward the back corner of the house, which appeared to have been a covered deck or sun room, had the heaviest damage observable from the street. It was burned to its charred wooden frame. The home neighboring the burning structure to the south sustained heavy damage to its siding.

Danny Depper, a neighbor on South 13th Street said the early-morning scene was “surreal.”

“I sleep with the scanner on and I heard them say 13th Street,” he said. “When they said the address and I immediately heard all the commotion, I shot up and ran outside ... to see what was going on. The whole house was up in flames.

“The fire department did a great job. I’m really proud of our fire department in Belleville.”

Depper said he knows the family that lives in house.

“Us and them have been here forever, like 40 years,” he said. “They are good people ... They’d do anything for you.”

Tom Powell, moved away from South 13th Street, but was at the scene out of concern for his former neighbors.

“We moved a couple blocks away, but that doesn’t mean we’re not all still friends,” he said. “They are good, well-liked people. It’s a tragedy.”

Both the Illinois State Fire Marshal and St. Clair County coroner also responded to the scene. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.

This story was originally published October 28, 2024 at 12:58 PM.