Mother loses 3 toddlers in Carpentersville house fire: 'I felt his heart stop'

CARPENTERSVILLE, Ill. (WLS) -- Hearing your child come into this world is one of the most beautiful moments in a parent's life.

But the silence of losing a child is deafening.

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"I felt his heart stop. I watched as he took his last breath, and had to sit there and listen as the doctors told me they wouldn't be able to save him anymore," said Josephine Beauchane.

Beauchane held her 2-year-old son, Kayden, for the last time on Sunday night after losing her 1-year-old, Xander, and Kayden's twin brother, Jayden, in a house fire that morning.

"They were crying for mama, and trying to find out where mama was, and mama was racing over here to find out if they were OK," Beauchane said.

It was just after 9:30 a.m. Sunday when Carpentersville resident Sam Olvera looked outside his window to see flames shooting out from his neighbor's home.

Kane County officials gave an update Monday on a fatal Carpentersville fire.

"By the time I got dressed and come out and see what I could do, the house just went up in flames," Olvera said. "The whole front of the house."

Then, things got worse.

"I thought everybody was out, and thought, 'OK, we'll just wait for the fire department to get here,'" Olvera said. "And all of a sudden I heard, 'There's kids in there. There's kids in there.'"

Carpentersville fire officials say the fire, which broke out in the basement of the boys' grandmother's home, was powerful.

"The guys went to work right away," Carpentersville Fire Chief William Anaszewicz said. "Grabbed what they could to try to put the fire out, start a search immediately of the building."

Reports were that six people were inside when the fire started. Seeing the magnitude of the fire, a MABAS alarm was called, bringing in resources from all over Kane County.

"Upon arrival, the crews had fire coming out of all four windows of the building here," Anaszewicz said. "So, their immediate response was to try to put the fire out, and then initiate the searches, then made it in through the front door, and were able to take two of the older victims out, and then conducted the searches in the lower level, where the children were reported. They were able to get the one out and the two, like I said, passed away."

By the time firefighters arrived in the 1700-block of Kingston Circle, just before 9:45 a.m., the home was engulfed with the three boys were trapped.

"It's a horrific thing that not only the family has to go through, but now, the community has to, we're going through this as well. First responders have to deal with this. It's going to take some time to process. We are all going to have to have to heal," said Carpentersville Police Chief Todd Shaver.

Their grandmother tried everything in her power to save them.

"She tried so hard to save those kids. She kept running into the house, trying to find those children. She could not find them. The smoke was too, too strong," said Christina Castillo, the brothers' great-grandmother.

The grandmother is expected to survive, but without a home to return to and without the three boys who made the place feel like home.

"These were my kids, my life, my story and now, they're gone," Beauchane said. "Don't leave without saying goodbye, because you won't know if it's your last time."

Officials said the boys' father, grandfather and the grandmother's boyfriend were also home at the time of the fire. Two of them were treated and released for smoke exposure.

"It's a tragic loss we've had here today," Carpentersville Village President John Skillman said. "Just here to support the neighbors and families involved."

The names of Xander, Jayden and Kayden are written all over a growing memorial, where dozens showed up on Monday night to to show the family that they are not alone and that they are loved, just as much as the family loved the three boys.

"I just want them to be remembered as the kids who brought everybody together and loved everybody as who they were," Beauchane said.

And the outpouring of support towards the family continues to grow.

Local businessman Duke Seward is hoping, through his nonprofit, Taste the Love, to them rebuild, once the time comes.

"It's a small piece of the puzzle. But I think this is something that the community needs to come together, and as a whole, we need to wrap our arms around this family and the mother and kind of help her during this time of need," said Seward, who owns Duke's Blues & BBQ.

The shocking tragedy has reverberated throughout the community.

It not the first time the village has experienced a tragedy of this magnitude. The last blaze of this severity dates back to the early 1990s.

A steady stream of mourners stopped by the boarded up home to pay their respects on Monday. Most told ABC7 they did not know the family or the children, but still felt compelled to come to say a prayer or drop off flowers.

Autopsies were performed, but the causes and manners of death for the children were not released. The home has been deemed uninhabitable.

Determining the cause of the fire will take some time, officials said. Anyone with information on the fire is asked to call Carpentersville police.