fire

Joe Molnar, South Bend's deputy community investment director, says demolishing the historic Lafayette Building after a June 8 fire would be heartbreaking but maybe necessary if an interested developer doesn't step forward soon.

Since a small fire Aug. 25, the U.S. Postal Service has placed signs on the windows sayings operations have moved to South Bend's main post office downtown.

South Bend Fire Department Assistant Chief Derrick Erquhart says it could be days, weeks or months before investigators determine what caused a fire at the historic Lafayette Building Monday. A city official says the building had been secured.

A developer tried to renovate the Lafayette Building in 2023 and 2024 but ultimately failed to secure financing, partly because of a fire in the 1930s in the basement.

The St. Joseph County Sheriff's Department declined to release the children's ages until their investigation of the fire's cause is finished.

Indiana is one of only five states that does not let tenants escrow part of rent payments for future maintenance and repairs.

South Bend Fire Chief Carl Buchanon urged people to make sure that smoke alarms work and that kids know what to do in a fire.

The South Bend firefighter rushed to find his Plymouth home fully engulfed in flames but his wife and children were safe.

Saint Joseph Health System President Chris Karam says the Medical Office Building could be powered to reopen by Thursday but it more likely will be Friday.

A Mishawaka assistant fire chief praised the Humane Society of St. Joseph County for reuniting pets with their people, and he credited Autumn Lakes Apartments for working to find displaced tenants new homes