EAST CHICAGO | A 13-year-old boy alerted his family to fire in their home before losing his life in the blaze.

Firefighters found the body of Trevone McCollum, 13, on the floor of his upstairs bedroom in the 4400 block of Olcott Avenue shortly before 10 p.m. Monday, a victim of smoke inhalation, according to the Lake County coroner's office.

His 8-year-old sister was carried from the burning second floor by their father, Tremaye McCollum.

Tremaye McCollum, was taken to a local hospital and then flown to an Illinois trauma center for treatment of second-degree burns and smoke inhalation, police said.

No other family member suffered life-threatening injuries, said East Chicago Fire Chief Val Gomez.

Final reports on the blaze by city and state fire inspectors had not yet been completed Tuesday, but all indications point to a candle left burning unattended in an upstairs bathroom as its cause, Gomez said.

According to Trevone's mother, Kimberly McCollum, the family had bedded down for the night when they were awakened shortly after 9:30 p.m. by shouts from Trevone upstairs that the house was on fire.

While she called 911, his father ran upstairs to find the brick home's second story engulfed in flames.

He located his daughter despite the thick smoke and brought her outside, but couldn't return past the top of the stairs for Trevone due to the intense heat.

He then climbed the alley side of the house and attempted to break out the boy's bedroom window, suffering lacerations to both his hands that medics treated at the scene.

Trevone's mother was treated at St. Catherine Hospital for scrapes and contusions she suffered during the evacuation and was released.

There apparently were no working smoke detectors in the house, according to the fire inspectors' preliminary reports.

Friends and teachers remembered Trevone as an earnest, hardworking boy who always tried to do his best at whatever he did.

Sports were the West Side Junior High School eighth-grader's passion, and he spent his summers playing basketball outside at Veterans Park, just steps south of his Olcott Avenue home.

During the winter, he would move his game to the indoor court at nearby Heritage Hall.

Each October, during Fire Prevention Month, firefighters conduct seminars in the city's schools that include discussions of candle safety and the importance of having working smoke alarms, Gomez said.