FRANKLIN — Firefighters from across Johnson County responded to a large building fire in Franklin Friday morning.
Crews responded just after 5 a.m. to an apartment building at Compass Park, formerly the Indiana Masonic Home, on Red Skelton Circle. It's just off of State Street, about 1 mile southwest of Franklin College.
The building is currently unoccupied and under construction. Officials at Compass Park said the 39-unit structure was 100 days from opening.
Residents next door were evacuated in less than 20 minutes, and there were no injuries, according to Franklin Fire Department Chief Joshua Snyder.
“The firewall did its job and stopped the fire from getting to a part of the structure that is (occupied). Those residents are out and accounted for,” Chief Snyder said at a press briefing.
Snyder added that flames broke through the firewall about an hour after firefighting began.
“They’re rated for one hour, so it did its job. (We) were on it quick and were extinguishing that. As of right now, there’s no bad damage over there, probably just light smoke.”
Snyder told WRTV that in his 20 years of fighting fires, this is the “largest fire he’s seen,” and the largest fire in Franklin in quite some time.
Fire departments from Greenwood, White River, Bargersville, Edinburgh, Needham, Nineveh, and Whiteland responded to the scene.
It’s unclear how long it will take to extinguish the blaze, and Snyder says it’s too soon to know the cause.
“My fire investigator is in, and he will be getting a crew together, and they’ll be getting hold of the state fire marshal and starting an investigation.”
Snyder is expected to give another update around 2 p.m. Friday.
WRTV has a crew at the scene. This story will be updated as soon as more information becomes available.
