IFD: Fire on City’s Southwest Side Ruled Arson

Source: IFD / Submitted Photo

INDIANAPOLIS — A fire on the city’s southwest side early Friday morning, which trapped a man inside a makeshift home, has been determined to be arson.

The fire happened at a home located at 1363 Belmont Ave on the southwest side of Indianapolis.

Firefighters rescued the man, who is now in critical condition. The incident occurred at a residence along Belmont Avenue, initially reported as a garage fire. However, upon arrival, firefighters discovered that the garage had been converted into a living space.

“This particular structure that they responded to was a 30×40 pretty large three to four car garage, masonry structure that had a carport attached to it, and the carport was heavily involved in a fire,” said Rita Reith, IFD Battalion Chief. “Firefighters tried to enter the detached garage partly because they had to get the fire out first before they could enter.”

Neighbors woke up to the smell of fire, which had already melted the siding off their homes.

“It melted our siding on the corner and in the front, and it burned up half of our Jaguar,” a neighbor told WIBC News. “We live about 15 feet from [the fire].”

Rescue personnel at the scene of the fire were determining how to reach the victim trapped in a makeshift home.

“The only doorway into that attached structure was behind the burned-out vehicles in the carport,”  Reith said. “Once the fire was knocked down, they entered the masonry-constructed garage, now a residence.”

The neighbor told WIBC that a man, spotted on a Ring Doorbell camera, was going door to door in the neighborhood. She says he knocked on her door, volunteering to move her car. She says in the chaos of evacuating her mother, he ended up stealing her car.

“Our house was full of neighbors trying to help out, and this dude was like, ‘I’ll move your car for you, honey,’ and he ends up stealing the car,” she said.

She claims the fire began at 3:00 am, and her dog woke her up, “I heard three loud bangs,” she added.

IFD says the home did not have working smoke alarms.

You can have information about this case you can contact the IFD/IMPD Fire Investigations office at 317-327-6700 for fire investigations or the Indiana Arson Hotline at 1-800-382-4628.

Callers who provide information that leads to an arrest may receive an award of up to $5,000.

IFD: Fire on City’s Southwest Side Ruled Arson was originally published on wibc.com