6 found dead in Logansport fire, police search for evidence
LOGANSPORT, Ind. (WISH) — Authorities in Cass County are trying to figure out what caused a fire that killed six people, including four children, early Wednesday morning.
State police said the fatalities included a mother and her children. The ages of victims who died: a 42-year-old man, a 25-year-old woman, a 10-year-old girl, a 3-month old boy, a 1-year-old girl and a 3-year-old girl.
Investigators are still searching the scene for evidence. The Cass County Sheriff said, for now, his team is treating the case as a criminal investigation.
Two adults escaped the fire and police say they are cooperating with detectives. They are believed to be the wife and son of the deceased 42-year-old man. They are at the hospital and are expected to survive their injuries.
The smoke billowed over Pottowatomie Point Road after the fire started around 1:49 a.m.
One neighbor told News 8 they saw a man and a woman running around the home, yelling for people still inside.
Deputies, including Nick Boyer, arrived on scene and tried to rescue the victims.
“The smoke was just too much,” Boyer said.
The sheriff said Boyer suffered smoke inhalation and refused treatment at the scene.
Multiple fire departments arrived on scene to battle the fire, but due to cold temperatures and lack of on scene access water, firefighters had to truck in water from Logansport once their tanker trucks ran dry.
“I always know that we try to do our best and that’s what we all can come with. Just come with your best. Try to go home every night. That’s it,” Boyer said.
A neighbor named Robert Baer said he knows two people who lived in the home, including a man who used to visit Baer’s shop.
“He was a hardworking feller,” Baer said.
It’s not clear if that man survived.
“Any time there is a death like this or a fire, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a death but just a fire, this time of year, it is tragic,” Baer said.
The Cass County sheriff said there is another death investigation underway in nearby Carroll County and the person who died may be related to the victims in Logansport. He did not say who the person who died was in Carroll County or how he or she died.