UPDATED: Woman dies in Bellflower house fire

Posted on June 17, 2019

By Howard Packowitz

BELLFLOWER – McLean County Coroner Kathy Yoder has yet to release the name of a woman killed in a house fire early Sunday in far southeastern McLean County.

Sheriff Jon Sandage said in a news release that a deputy on patrol saw a home fully engulfed in flames in the 400 block of First Street in Bellflower about 5:20 a.m.

Sandage says fire crews found the woman’s body after putting out the blaze.

Bellflower, Saybrook, and Farmer City firefighters were called to fight the fire.

The sheriff’s department and the coroner’s office are aiding fire investigators in determining a cause.

Fires claimed two lives in McLean County in less than a week.

Preliminary autopsy results showed Judith Dawson, 76, died from inhaling smoke and soot during a fire last Wednesday in the 1300 block of Baugh Drive in Normal. The cause of that fire is also under investigation.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]

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