RICHMOND, IN — A fire early Tuesday morning damaged an apartment building in the 200 block of NW First Street.
Firefighters from the Richmond Fire Department responded to the blaze about 3:45 a.m., RFD C-shift Battalion Chief Jerry Benjamin said. The fire was deemed under control at 4:37 a.m.
Michael Gray and Ariel Christy, next-door neighbors, called 911 after awakening in the middle of the night to the sound of glass windows breaking.
“It was already all the way from the first floor to the second floor,” Gray said. “It was hot enough to melt our tail light cover and license plate on the car. When we first got up, you could feel the heat through the windows inside, and then we had to stand down in front of our neighbor’s house because of how hot it was.”
Gray said that to his knowledge, no utilities were hooked up to the four-bedroom building, adding that he knew of one woman potentially squatting there for the past four to five years.
“I assume she was mentally handicapped in some sort of way,” he said. “She was always real quiet, didn’t bother anybody around here.”
In August 2024, according to Google Street View, two-bedroom apartments for rent were being offered. The property owner, Michael Sell, said he was not actively renting out the building at the time of the fire and doesn’t have any knowledge of what happened or anybody staying there.
No injuries have been confirmed. A fire department spokesman said the cause is under investigation.
Evan Weaver is a news and sports reporter at The Palladium-Item. Contact him on X (@evan_weaver7) or email at eweaver@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Richmond Palladium-Item: Tuesday morning fire damages Richmond apartment building; no confirmed injuries
Reporting by Evan Weaver, Richmond Palladium-Item / Richmond Palladium-Item
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