Indianapolis firefighters rescue 12 people from apartment fire

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Firefighters rescued a dozen people early Monday from an apartment fire just east of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

At around 3:30 a.m., 911 dispatchers received multiple calls about a fire at the El Dorado apartments in the 3600 block of Green Ash Court. That’s just north of James Foster Gaines Park and less than two miles from IMS.

About fifty residents of the building were evacuated, with firefighters using ground ladders to rescue 12 people, according to the Indianapolis Fire Department.

One person was taken to Eskenazi Hospital with possible smoke inhalation, but no one was seriously hurt, IFD said.

The fire started in an apartment on the second floor, according to IFD. The woman who rents the apartment told firefighters she was awoken by the sound of her portable fans turning off turning off in her bedroom. She says she’s been having electrical issues in her apartment and has reported the problems to her landlord.

The woman says she saw fire near an outlet that spread quickly to a nearby mattress. She told her three young children to run, grabbed their Labrador puppy, and pulled the hallway fire alarm on her way out of the building.

The apartment was significantly damaged and the family lost all of its possessions, IFD said.

Most of the people living in the apartment building will be displaced at least for tonight because of smoke, according to IFD. The department is working with apartment management and the Red Cross to provide the residents with a place to stay.

IFD says the fire was accidental, with the origin determined to be an electrical failure of a floor receptacle next to the bed.