Garage fires investigated near 38th and MLK

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Arson investigators are looking into two garage fires and one attempted garage fire that all happened in the same neighborhood.

Fire crews were called to West 37th Street near Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street just after 10 p.m. Tuesday.

About an hour and a half later, they responded to another garage fire just down the road. A third garage had burn marks, and was listed as an “attempted arson” in a police report.

Nobody was hurt. One garage was destroyed, but firefighters got the flames under control before they spread to nearby homes. However, some say this could have been much worse.

“This is real dangerous, somebody could have died out here,” said one man who lives in the area. He asked not to be identified, but showed 24-Hour News 8 the burn marks on the back of his garage.

He said he spoke with arson investigators.

“They were searching out here for evidence I guess, and they saw my garage and they saw this burn mark,” said the neighbor.

The burn mark was not the only thing they found.

“We saw a wick and a, like, a lantern or something,” said the neighbor.

He said it appears someone tried to throw that at his garage. He believes his aluminum siding kept the garage from going up in flames.

A third garage about a block away was also damaged by fire.

“It doesn’t give you very much peace of mind. I was up kind of late, every little sound you hear you jump up, you look out the window,” said the neighbor.

Now neighbors are hoping that if these fires are ruled arson, the people responsible are found.

“They don’t know what they’re doing. Well, they might know what they’re doing, but they need to be caught. They need to be caught and punished,” said the neighbor.

A spokesperson for the Indianapolis Fire Department said these cases are still under investigation.

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