Photos and info via Rita Reith
Indianapolis (IN) firefighters made multiple rescues at an apartment fire this morning in town.
Crews rescued 20 occupants and five cats from the fire at Pangea Courts Apartments on 4431 Linwood Court.
Crews arrived to find heavy fire showing from the first floor of a three-story building with multiple occupants trying to evacuate. Through the use of ground ladders on both sides of the structure, firefighters made entry and brought the occupants to safety—through windows, down ladders, and using the two main doors.
The fire was marked under control in 20 minutes. Thirteen of the occupants (10 children and three adults) were transported to area hospitals with nonlife-threatening injuries. One of the patients transported was a 21-day-old infant. One of the juvenile patients jumped from the second-story window.
Occupants reported hearing working smoke alarms but say many did not take action to evacuate, as they say smoke alarms activate all the time. By the time they took action, the building was fully charged with smoke and heavy fire. Several of the units were found without working smoke alarms; firefighters found them removed from the ceiling.
The failure of occupants to evacuate and the attempt to evacuate through smoke-filled hallways calls to mind the catastrophic high-rise residential fire earlier this year in the Bronx in which 17 people were killed.
RITA L. REITH is a battalion chief with the Indianapolis Fire Department (IFD) and serves as the agency’s public information officer.
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