Woman, cat found dead after southeast-side house fire Monday morning, IFD says
Indianapolis Fire Department Battalion Chief Rita Reith provided tips on how you and your family can be prepared for a house fire.
A woman was found dead inside a house after a fire on the southeast side of Indianapolis on Monday morning, according to the Indianapolis Fire Department.
Firefighters with the Indianapolis and Beech Grove Fire Departments were dispatched to the single-story home in the 3600 block of Five Points Road just outside I-465 after multiple 911 calls reported a house was on fire minutes before 8 a.m.
Crews arriving to the scene found heavy smoke and fire at the rear of the house, IFD Battalion Chief Rita Reith said in a release, and responders were told a person was possibly inside the structure. Firefighters conducted a “rapid search” of the house after initially having trouble entering the building due to “excessive clutter within the home.”
The woman was found dead after a second search of the house at 8:20 a.m., Reith said. A firefighter was “slightly injured for heat related issues” during the incident and was treated on at the scene.
In 911 calls, neighbors and others on the scene of the blaze describe the house as “fully engulfed” in flames. One neighbor, who told dispatchers she lived in the house next to the fire, said an “elderly woman” lived in the house.
“No one is coming to the door,” the woman told dispatchers. “We can’t get anyone’s attention.”
“There’s an active fire,” another 911 caller said. “We’ve knocked on the windows and everything. I don’t know if anybody is in there or not.”
A cat also was killed in the blaze, and another cat was rescued by firefighters and given oxygen.
The woman’s death marks the second fatality in IFD’s service district in 2021, officials said. The home did not have working smoke alarms.
More: 2 dead after fire in single-story home in Lawrence early Wednesday, fire officials say
No additional information about the victim or how the fire began has been released.
Contact Lawrence Andrea at 317-775-4313 or landrea@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @lawrencegandrea.
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Published at Mon, 24 May 2021 15:49:56 +0000