Boy, 3, killed in South Side house fire ID'd

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Authorities have released the identity of a 3-year-old boy killed in a house fire Saturday on Chicago's South Side.

At about 2:30 p.m., firefighters responded to a house in the 6900-block of South Artesian. The fire was burning in the basement, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

Firefighters were told that a child was missing and they were able to pull him from the house. The boy was not breathing when he was found and transported to Holy Cross Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The boy has been identified to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office as Christopher Cherry.

The fire was started by an "electrical panel that had an unauthorized modification," according to a fire department tweet at 7:50 p.m. Saturday. As a result, items nearby caught fire.

Firefighters passed out smoke detectors in the surrounding neighborhood Sunday.