1 child critically injured, 3 others hurt in apartment fire on northeast side

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — One child was critically injured and three others were hurt Sunday in a kitchen fire at an apartment on the city’s northeast side.

Crews with the Indianapolis Fire Department responded around 6:45 p.m. Sunday to the Postbrook Apartments in the 4000 block of Windhill Drive.

One teen and four young children were in the apartment when the fire started, IFD said in a news release. The teen told firefighters he was asleep upstairs and his mother was cooking, then left the apartment.

Shortly after she left, heavy smoke filled the apartment and the smoke alarms went off. The teen ran downstairs, found fire in the kitchen, yelled for his siblings and left out the front door, IFD said.

Neighbors saw the smoke and came to help. Three of the children jumped out of the apartment’s upstairs window and were caught by people who had gathered on the ground, IFD said.

The teen told Anthony Williams and Nyles Blair, who had shown up to help, that one of his siblings was still upstairs. Williams jumped onto the shoulder of Blair so they could reach the sill of the second-story window, spot the unconscious child and bring her to the ground.

All four children were taken to Riley Hospital for Children, one in critical condition and three in good condition.

The cause of the fire was ruled as accidental, unattended food on the stove, IFD said.