IFD: Firefighters, EMS have responded to troubled north side apartment complex 75 times this year

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — On the heels of Saturday’s fire at Lakeside Pointe at Nora that destroyed large portions of an apartment building and displaced dozens of residents, the Indianapolis Fire Department (IFD) released numbers giving insight into the apartment complex’s history of dangerous living conditions.

Since Jan. 1, IFD has responded to the complex for working fires approximately 20 times — this includes building, trash and vehicle fires. Also since Jan. 1, IFD has responded about 55 times to the complex on EMS runs.

In July, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita announced a lawsuit against the owner of Lakeside Pointe after an investigation found people living at the complex suffered through fires, lack of heat and air conditioning, water damage, mold, broken windows and other uninhabitable conditions.

When the lawsuit was announced, News 8 talked to a couple who lived at the Lakeside Pointe complex; they asked to conceal their identity for safety.

“They at one point said that we needed a doctor’s note saying we medically needed air conditioning,” one tenant said.

“There’s more homeless people in this complex at any given time than probably residents,” the other tenant said. “I mean, for real. In winter, there’s people that live in our hallways.”