(This story was updated with new information.)
A 2-year-old has died after being rescued from a burning home by Indianapolis firefighters.
Just after 10 p.m. Jan. 10, 2026, Indianapolis Fire Department crews were dispatched to a two-story residence in the 1500 block of Finley Avenue on the city’s south side blocks away from Garfield Park.
A neighbor called the fire in and when firefighters arrived three minutes later they found “heavy fire showing from the front of the residence to the first floor,” a news release from the Indianapolis Fire Department states.
According to the fire department, two adults, and two other children — a 4-year-old and a 13-month-old — were downstairs and escaped out the rear door of the home along with the family’s dog. But the 2-year-old was upstairs when the fire broke out.
The boy’s father and a neighbor tried to rescue the child, but were unable to get upstairs because of heavy smoke, the news release states.
Firefighters found the boy unconscious within minutes of arriving and he was rushed to Riley Hospital for Children in critical condition. Just after 11:30 a.m. the fire department said the boy, identified as Isaiah Howell Jr., had died.
The boy’s father told firefighters that alarms alerted them to the blaze and that they tried to put the fire out, but it spread quickly.
The cause of the fire, which was contained mostly to the front room of the home, remains under investigation, the fire department said.
The American Red Cross was called to assist the family that’s lived in the house about a year.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Boy dies after being pulled from house fire by Indianapolis firefighters
Reporting by Jen Guadarrama, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
