Yesterday, the name of a Hyde Park woman who died in a fire on December 7 was released after previously being withheld from the media, pending the notification of her next of kin.
Faye Yates, 68, was pronounced dead by authorities at the scene in her apartment in the 5400 block of South Cornell Avenue. The fire was contained to her apartment, but no building-wide evacuation was deemed necessary. The Carolan Apartments, where Yates lived, are home to many other elderly residents and several University of Chicago students.
According to neighbors, Yates was wheelchair-bound and a heavy smoker. A source told ABC7 Eyewitness News that the fire originated from a burning cigarette, but the cause of the fire has yet to be publicly confirmed by authorities.
No foul play is suspected in Yates’s death, and an autopsy did not rule on her cause of death, pending further investigation.
