Kelli Duncan

Kelli Duncan is an intern with the Illinois Answers Project and a graduate student at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism. Duncan has previously reported on local government, the court system and general news for outlets like South Side Weekly, The Chicago Reporter, Northwest Herald and Vail Daily. Duncan graduated from Butler University in 2018 with bachelor’s degrees in journalism and political science.

Chicago firefighter Felix McAfee passes out smoke alarms with a 10-year battery life to residents in the 1600 block of North Mayfield Avenue on Dec. 22, following a fatal fire on the block. (Credit: Antonio Perez/ Chicago Tribune)

Investigations

Smoke Detectors Save Lives, But Chicago Slow to Toughen Rules

by Alex Nitkin, Adriana Pérez and Kelli Duncan March 13, 2023March 16, 2023

A joint investigation with Illinois Answers and the Chicago Tribune found that smoke alarms were absent, defective or missing batteries in 57 out of 87 fatal residential fires in Chicago from 2020 through 2022.

A fire in the 500 block of North Central Avenue in April 2022 seriously injured Herrsterstine Burns, 57, who died three weeks later. Investigators found the apartment had no smoke alarms, even though city inspectors had visited the building as recently as early 2021 on other issues, records show. (Credit: Jose M. Osorio/ Chicago Tribune file photo)

Government Finance & Accountability

Fires Continue to Kill People in Unsafe Buildings as Chicago Ignores Problems with its Inspection System

by Alex Nitkin, Adriana Pérez and Kelli Duncan March 10, 2023March 16, 2023

As other cities across the country adopt innovative programs to fix problem buildings, Chicago lags behind