Elderly woman dies in fire in western Johnson County

LATEST: Johnson County Coroner Michael Pruitt says the woman who died in the March 20 fire was Helen Doyle, 87. DNA identified her. The cause of death remains pending. The investigation into the cause of the fire remains open.

CHETWYND, Ind. (WISH) — An elderly woman died Sunday afternoon in a fatal home fire in a rural section of western Johnson County, the Bargersville Community Fire Department says.

Fire crews went just after 12:15 p.m. Saturday to the home at the L-turn of Johnson County roads 150 South and South 700 West. That’s just north of State Road 44 about halfway between Martinsville and Franklin, and near the border with Morgan County. Homes in the area have rural Morgantown addresses.

Crew arrived to find the house fully engulfed in flames, said Michael Pruitt, Bargersville deputy fire chief. Smoke was visible for miles and it rose into a clear sky

He says crews took about 15 minutes to get the fire under control. One firefighter was taken to a hospital for a medical checkout, Pruitt says.

Three family members lived in the home, but the woman was the only one inside when the fire broke out. Fire crews found her dead inside the burned house, Pruitt said.

Additional information about the woman was not immediately shared publicly. He says the county coroner’s office will confirm her identity and determine the cause of death.

The Bargersville and White River Township fire departments, the county sheriff’s office and the Indiana Fire Marshal’s Office were working to learn what may have caused the fire, he says. The family told investigators that the home had working smoke alarms.