Medical emergency, not fire, led to death of man in south side apartment, IFD says

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A man found dead Sunday after an apartment fire on the city’s south side did not die as a result of the blaze, the Indianapolis Fire Department said Monday.

The Marion County Coroner’s office determined that the 67-year-old victim died as a result of an acute medical emergency, IFD Battalion Chief Rita Reith said in a release.

Firefighters were called around 12:45 p.m. Sunday to a building fire at the Crestwood Village apartments on Madison Avenue. When IFD crews arrived a few minutes later, they didn’t see any fire coming from the building.

The fire department says a building manager entered a second-floor apartment after hearing a smoke alarm go off and found the 67-year-old man unresponsive.

The manager and another apartment complex employee used a fire extinguisher to put out a small fire in the unit’s living room.

“The cause of the fire was determined to be smoking materials which ignited available combustibles — after the man suffered his medical emergency and died,” Reith said.

No other units or residents were affected.