IFD: Candle leads to apartment fire, about 20 people trapped by smoke

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Fire Department says a man's chair that hit a candle led to an early morning house fire on the south side.

Firefighters responded to the Pine Glen Apartments, located in the 4100 block of Burkhart Drive, around 3:30 a.m. That's near Hanna Avenue and Meridian Street.

Firefighters saw fire on the first and second floors. IFD says the man knocked over a chair, which knocked over a candle onto a blanket and the fire quickly took off.

IFD public information officer Rita Reith says several residents reported they were trapped due to smoke in the hallway. Around 20 people were brought out of the building. Before firefighters arrived, one mom handed two children through a window to a police officer. They were uninjured, according to IFD.

"There was a lot of assistance where firefighters did bring the occupants out the front door," Reith said.

The man whose apartment the fire started in was taken to the hospital to get checked out. Several other people were being checked out for smoke inhalation.

Four units were affected by fire, water or smoke damage, Reith said. She says residents helped firefighters by giving their location and apartment number in the building.