"We're getting reports of people trapped on the second floor and also jumpers," a dispatcher told responding fire companies.



The first supervisor on the scene, chief of the 23rd Battalion radioed in, "Fire through the roof. Give me a 2-11 on this. I need all trucks available."



Soon after, the supervisor reported, "We're doing CPR on an infant. Got another guy laid out. Again, fire looks like through the roof, back porches, second and third floor."



The chief called for more equipment as residents gathered at windows. "Ground ladders until I say I got enough ground ladders,'' he barked. "Yeah we need 3-footers, 35-footers. We're still having trouble getting in. They're trying to get all the patients that we can. We still have a large volume of fire. We are on the defensive attack.''



More than four hours after the fire started, it was struck out at 5:39 a.m.



Relatives started gathering, watching the flames die down as the sky brightened.



"My nieces didn't deserve this," cried Chantel Staples, who said she is Shawn Staples' sister. Addressing the suspect, she added, "You will get what you deserve."



Dressed in green pants and a shirt with Elsa from Disney's "Frozen," Staples walked away, crying. "No!" she screamed as a relative hugged her. "This isn't happening."



She walked back toward the crime tape. "I'm going to see my nieces. I'm going to see my niece," she said. "She's gonna wake up, and we're gonna go to Chuck E. Cheese's."



Clay Turner said he saw Watson lying on the ground and yelling for help, the 3-month-old next to him. Turner, who lives across the street, said he ran up and tried to help.



"I'm just speechless," Turner said, standing barefoot in a white T-shirt and black shorts.



Jennifer Wainwright said she tried in vain to revive the baby after her family escaped the flames.

Awakened to the sound of "crackling" outside her first-floor apartment, Wainwright and her family — which included her fiance and her 2-year-old daughter — found themselves trapped, their escape blocked by smoke and fire.



Fire blocked front and rear entrances to her apartment, and flames whipped in through the kitchen window near the rear of her apartment. With no other options, the family escaped through a window — first the fiance jumped down to safety, then he caught Jordan and then Wainwright.



Before the 29-year-old had a moment to gather herself, she saw a man cradling a small infant outside the building who appeared to not be breathing.



"A guy was like, 'Please, somebody get the baby,' " Wainwright said Tuesday morning across the street from her former home. "So I just grabbed the baby after handing someone my baby so I could take care (of them).



"The man gave me the infant and I started CPR because the baby was not breathing at all," said Wainwright, who is certified to perform CPR. "I'm soft on babies," she told reporters.



"I did what I could do. The Fire Department took over," she said. Soon emergency crews took the baby and rushed the child to the hospital.



The 3-month-old was taken in critical condition to Comer Children's Hospital and was pronounced dead at 2:40 a.m., said Officer Ron Gaines, a police spokesman. Watson was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center, fire officials said. Two other people were taken to South Shore Hospital, one in fair condition and the other in a good condition, according to fire officials.



Wainwright said her family planned to stay with relatives in the area but will still coming to grips with the fatal fire.



"I'm trying to get my mind wrapped around it. I have to replace everything. I'm grateful that my family got out."



She added: "Thank God for renters insurance. Hopefully everything will be taken care of."



Lanita Smith, 25, who lives on the second floor, said she woke up to loud sounds and thought someone was breaking into her apartment through the back door. When she got up, she saw the back door in her kitchen on fire.



She said she opened the front door and saw smoke, but she was able to run out into the front yard. "The fire was upstairs and downstairs," she said. "My whole porch was on fire."



Smith turned around and saw her boyfriend hanging out of her apartment window. He wasn't able to follow her out, so he jumped and hurt his wrist. He was taken to a hospital and his condition was stabilized, she said.