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Woman injured, 3 dogs dead after ‘set fire’ at house

Woman injured, 3 dogs dead after ‘suspicious’ house fire

News 8 at 5 p.m.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A woman was in the hospital and three dogs died Monday after a west-side blaze that authorities on Tuesday called “a set fire.”

Crews with the Wayne Township Fire Department responded around 2:30 p.m. Monday to a report of a house on fire in the 4700 block of Melrose Avenue, near Interstate 70 and West Minnesota Street. 

Crews arrived to find fire coming out the windows on the west side of home. Neighbors said a burned person was in the backyard, Troy Wymer, division chief with Wayne Township Fire Department, said Monday at the scene. 

Crews found a woman in the backyard, and emergency medical professionals tended to her. She was taken to Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital in serious condition with burns to her upper extremities, Wymer said Monday. The fire department has not identified the woman.

Four dogs and a cat were taken out of the home. Three dogs perished in the fire, while a paramedic took one dog to Noah’s Animal Hospital, Wymer said Monday.

On Tuesday, Wayne Township Fire Capt. Michael Pruitt said in an email, “The fire has been ruled a set fire. The investigation is ongoing while investigators await the opportunity to speak with the injured female who was on scene at the time of the fire.”

Pruitt also said there has been no condition update on the injured dog.