December 26-Two adults and two children died as a result of an early morning house fire in Hibbing. The blaze was reported shortly after 1:30 at 212 42nd Street East. Arriving Hibbing firefighters rescued four people(two adults and two children) and began CPR on the two children, who were transported by the Chisholm Ambulance Service to the Hibbing hospital. 67 year old Steve Gillitzer and 63 year old Pat Gillitzer were pronounced dead at the scene. Their grandchildren, nine year old Todd Gillitzer and three year old Isaiah Adams were airlifted to trauma centers, where they later died. A third grandchild, Jonathan Gillitzer, who was outside the home when crews arrived, received non life threatening injuries and was taken to the Hibbing hospital. Hibbing fire officials said Gillitzer, a retired Hibbing firefighter, woke up and was able to get Jonathan out of the burning house and then returned to rescue the others. He did not make it out alive.
Firefighters from: Hibbing, Chisholm, Keewatin, Nashwauk, Virginia, Buhl, Clinton Townsip, and Fayal Township were on the scene. The Nashwauk Ambulance Service provided medical standby at the scene. The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Hibbing Fire Marshal’s Office, with assistance from the Minnesota State Fire Marshal’s Office. News media reports say smoke alarms were sounding at the time of the fire.
