A 70-year-old woman has died after a fire broke out early Sunday morning in a high-rise apartment building just west of Downtown Peoria.
In a post on social media, the Peoria County Coroner's Office identified the victim as Lynn Hinckley.
The Peoria Fire Department responded to the B’nai B’rith Apartments at 215 W. Sam J. Stone Ave. shortly after 6 a.m., with flames showing from a unit on the 11th floor. Firefighters found a victim inside the unit and removed her from the room with the fire.
Crews searched the 10th and 11th floors for additional residents requiring help, and assisted a smooth evacuation process. The fire department says multiple victims were taken to the hospital, and the conditions of the others were not immediately known.
The coroner's office said Hinckley arrived at the hospital unresponsive, not breathing and with no pulse.
She was pronounced dead at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center shortly before 7 a.m.
An autopsy to determine an official cause of death is scheduled for Monday.
The fire department estimated damage to the apartment building between $200,000-$300,000.
