IFD: 20 people displaced after apartment fire
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Twenty people were without homes Tuesday after an early-morning fire swept through their south side apartment building, the Indianapolis Fire Department said.
Firefighters were called to a fire at the Emerson Village Lake Apartments at around 4:20 a.m. and found flames shooting through the roof of a two-story apartment building. The building is on Emerson Village Place near the intersection of Emerson Avenue and Shelbyville Road.
Firefighters had the fire under control just before 5 a.m. One firefighter was treated at the scene for a slight injury, IFD Battalion Chief Rita Reith said in a statement.
The fire affected 16 apartments, two of which were unoccupied. Eight of the apartments were heavily damaged by fire, while smoke damaged the other eight units.
IFD Victims Assistance and the Red Cross were working to provide shelter for the displaced residents. Apartment management told the fire department that they could house people in empty units there and at other properties, Reith said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. The fire department has not determined if the building’s smoke alarms were working at the time.