Baby, firefighter injured in east side fire

INDIANAPOLIS — A 10-month-old boy and a firefighter were injured Friday afternoon in a house fire on the city's east side.

The boy is in critical condition and had CPR performed on him before being taken to the hospital. The firefighter was slightly injured.

According to IFD, crews were called to a home in the 500 block of N. Hamilton Ave for a double residence fire with entrapment.

The fire started in the living room around 1 p.m.

Provided/IFD

Two dogs perished in the fire, according to IFD.

IFD says a 16 year old, her 10 month old baby and three other kids ages 10, 3 and 2 were inside when the fire started.

IFD crews arrived to hear neighbors yelling that the baby was still inside in an upstairs bedroom.

"All we heard was the windows bursting and it sounded like, I don't even know what. We thought our windows were busted, so we ran outside and we seen a bunch of smoke and we heard a baby just screaming, screaming, screaming," one neighbor told WRTV's Rachael Wilkerson.

The other side of the duplex is under renovation and no one lived there.

The cause of the fire was ruled accidental and caused by a space heater too close to combustibles.

IFD says the home did have working smoke alarms and the 10-year-old was the first one to notice the fire.

Provided/IFD

IFD wants the community to know there is help in obtaining and having smoke alarms installed. In January, six people died as a result of house fires - the same number of people who died in all of 2022.

"Contact us please. We're there for you. We'll help you install them; we'll look at the ones in your home. We'll help you with your safety plan — knowing how to get out of your home [and] having a plan of where your children will meet at," IFD Division Chief Michael Beard said.

If you live in the IFD service district and need a smoke alarm, you can request one here. You can also contact IFD with questions or concerns.

Beard says having working smoke detectors can decrease the risk of fire-related death by half.

If requested, the IFD will install a 10-year sealed lithium battery smoke alarm. Alarms for those who are deaf or hard of hearing are available as well.

"Our goal is to keep people safe, to save the lives of our community," Beard said. "Put your smoke alarms in, test them monthly and make sure that they meet the manufacturer's requirements."