Charred beams and tiles litter the yard in front of a house on North La Porte Avenue on Monday afternoon.
Looking through openings where windows once went, a blackened interior is visible revealing the aftermath of what is believed to be South Bend’s deadliest fire in the past few decades.
Seven people were in the house on Sunday evening when it went up in flames, according to South Bend fire officials. Five people died — all children ranging in age from 17 months to around 9 years old.
An adult man and an 11-year-old girl both made it out alive. The man has non-life threatening injuries, while the girl was airlifted to a pediatric burn unit in Indianapolis.
As of Monday afternoon, investigators with the South Bend Fire Department and the office of Indiana Fire Marshall are investigating the cause of the fire.
Broadly speaking, South Bend Fire Chief Carl Buchanon said crews responded around 6:30 p.m. Sunday night to a building already engulfed in flames on both levels.
Firefighters cleared a path on the first floor to try and get to the children, who were trapped on the second level. They managed to pull out the six children, though only one survived.
Buchanon said that to his knowledge, Sunday’s fire was the single deadliest he’s encountered in his 37 years with the department.
“Over 37 years I’ve been in a lot of incidents and unfortunately we’ve had some fatalities throughout the city of South Bend during that time,” Buchanon said. “But this, to my knowledge, is the most we’ve had at one time.”
Buchanan said the man attempted to get the children out, but wasn’t able to fight through the smoke. He added it’s unclear if the house had working smoke detectors.
“The adult was able to get themselves out of the structure, but not [before] trying to make a valiant attempt to try and rescue the other individuals, the other children in there,” Buchanon said. “But the heavy smoke, heavy fire was overcoming him.”
The man was related to the children, but officials on Monday did not say how or identify any of the victims. The South Bend School Corporation said three of the children in the fire attended South Bend schools, including the 11-year-old who is in the hospital.
Assisting South Bend fire in their investigation is Indiana Fire Marshal Steve Jones, who traveled up to South Bend when he heard the news. He praised the bravery of the firefighters of Engine Company 2 who were on the scene first.
“The firefighters, when they’re on the end of a hose line and there are people in there, they’re working hard, putting themselves at risk,” Jones said. “You don’t know unless you’ve been on a hose line and there are people trapped.”
According to Jones, 80 people in Indiana were killed in fires last year. And already this year, he’s responded to a few fires with multiple fatalities in other parts of the state. Even in South Bend this Saturday, a man was killed in a fire on South Ironwood Drive.
As officials continue to investigate the cause of the fire, passersby on La Porte Avenue had set up candles and stuffed animals in a miniature shrine in front of the burnt house. South Bend Mayor James Mueller said the tragedy is impacting the whole city.
“The incident last night was a horrific tragedy In our community. We know this is rippling across the entire community today and will be for some time,” Mueller said.
“One of the challenging parts is everyone wants answers? Everyone wants to know ‘How can this happen in 2024?’”
