As of 1 p.m. Tuesday, the smell of smoke still hung in the air on the 1500 block of South Summit Ave. in unincorporated Villa Park, and smoke still could be seen rising from a large hole in the roof.
The fire, which claimed the lives of four people, is now being labeled as "suspicious" by the DuPage County Sheriff's Office.
Sheriff's spokesman Dawn Domrose would not confirm the names of the victims as of 1 p.m. Tuesday.
"I do not have any information on the victims right now," Domrose said. "They haven't confirmed if they are male, female, adult or if there are kids involved."
But Ed Peterson said the woman who lived there was Ursula Nailor. Peterson was her boss. He said she had two sons who were also killed in the fire. A young woman, reportedly another family member, also was killed.
Nailor was a bus driver at Falcon Transportation in Chicago since 2006, Peterson, who owns the company, told reporters.
"She was a very nice lady," he said. "She had two kids. She talked a lot about her kids and cared a lot about her kids, like most parents."
He said her children were teenagers.
Peterson said Nailor had an impeccable work record.
"She didn't report to work this morning," he said. "She would never be a no-show without a call. So we gave her a call. That was about 6 a.m. We got no answer.
"She was a very good employee. Came to work on time, did her job. We never had any complaints."
The 911 call came in at about 7:16 a.m. Tuesday, according to a press release from the DuPage County Sheriff's Office.
In addition to Sheriff's vehicles, the street in front of the home was lined with emergency vehicles from multiple jurisdictions. A vehicle labeled Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm Accelerant K-9 also was on scene, which brought dogs to the home to search for chemicals that could have spread the fire.
An investigation into foul play is ongoing, Domrose said.
A large blue tent was set up in front of the garage, and the bodies were removed from the home at around 1 p.m. by DuPage County Coroner personnel.
"It's just tragic," Peterson said. "She's dead. Her kids are dead. She was a very nice lady."
