Thread: Fire kills 4 in crowded Indiana house

Sunday, August 13, 2006 · Last updated 5:22 p.m. PT
By TOM COYNE
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. -- A fire killed four people early Sunday in a two-story house where about a dozen people lived in makeshift rooms, some of them bedding down in closets, the state fire marshal said.

Witnesses reported seeing people fleeing the property before officials arrived, Fire Marshal Roger Johnson said. The residents didn't return, he said.

"We don't know why they left, why they did not want to stay and why they did not want to address any questions we may have," Johnson said.

Immigration officials had been to the scene, Deputy Fire Chief Chuck Greis said. Neighbors told The Associated Press they believed most residents in house were Asian immigrants who worked at a local Chinese restaurant.

The fire appeared to have started in the back of the house, but investigators did not yet know the cause, Johnson said. An accelerant-sniffing dog was being used and a task force was formed to investigate, including agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

When fire crews arrived, the rear of the home was fully engulfed in flames and within minutes the fire had spread through the entire house, Fire Chief Ralph Martin said. He said the fire appeared to have traveled through the walls or ceilings. Crews needed three hours to extinguish the blaze.

Johnson said he did not know how many people were there when the fire started but he said there were "an abnormal number of sleeping areas in the house." Mattresses were found inside closets and there appeared to be some makeshift rooms with spots for about 12 to 15 people to sleep, he said.

Neighbor Holly Hanrath said the house had been up for sale and she and her husband Frank had been inside about two weeks ago. She said it had been subdivided into rooms with plywood sheeting and there were mattresses on the kitchen floor. The couple said the wiring and plumbing were old and they could smell gas near the stove.

The Hanraths live across the street. "I could feel the heat coming in through my window. It was really intense," Frank Hanrath said.

Neighbor Tawny Anderson said firefighters hosed down her house and the one next to it to prevent the flames from spreading. Anderson said she moved into the neighborhood only six weeks ago and did not know the people in the burned house.

Officials did not know the victims' identities or ages. The LaPorte County coroner's office did not return phone messages Saturday.

Michigan City is in northwestern Indiana, about 35 miles east of Chicago.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/nation...iana_Fire.html

Moving this to news section.

I saw this on the news last night but gee they didn’t mention anything about immigration. Hmm.

They did mention that the local restaurant had to close because so many of their employees were gone, there were at least 12 people sleeping in the small house and the man who rescued the ones he could had to pull them out because they didn’t understand English, and those that got out fled.

http://www.post-trib.com

Two fire victims’ names unknown
Aug. 16, 2006

By Stan Maddux / Post-Tribune correspondent


MICHIGAN CITY — The owner of a Chinese restaurant was unable to identify two of the men who died in a blaze at a two-unit house occupied by his employees.

Coming up with their names could take weeks, if not months, because of the possibility they were illegal immigrants or undocumented workers.

“In the United States government’s eyes, they possibly might not exist,” LaPorte County Chief Deputy Coroner John Sullivan said.

Officials reversed an earlier statement Tuesday and disclosed that all four victims were Hispanic. Authorities originally believed two of the victims were of Asian descent.

Two victims were quickly identified from photo identification cards in wallets found in their back pockets, Sullivan said.

The names of the two men were withheld until relatives can be located and notified.

Pictures of the two unidentified victims were shown to Zhi Jian Jiang, owner of Fortune House restaurant, Sullivan said.

Jiang, who also owns the house at 2021 Buffalo St. and is cooperating in the investigation, did not recognize the men, authorities said.

Sullivan said officials will also show the pictures to Fortune House workers and submit fingerprints of the dead men to a national FBI database collected from criminals and foreigners in the country legally.

Officials still have not determined how many people were living in the two-story house or how the fire started, police said.

An accelerant was detected in the back porch area and in kitchen on the first floor, but authorities had not identified any specific fuel.

“Our people are still working all angles and we like to let the facts speak for themselves before making a decision,” said John Kintzele, Michigan City assistant police chief.

There are reports that several people of Asian descent were seen running from the burning structure Sunday, who fled in a van. Police said some of those people have been located and questioned.

Investigators also are investigating how many people were living in the house after they found sixteen sets of mattresses and box springs in the house, which contained six bedrooms. No smoke detectors were located in the rubble, officials said.

“I’m just looking for somebody’s help in identifying the two we cannot identify,” Sullivan said.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst ... ead14.html

4 die as crowded Ind. house burns

August 14, 2006

BY JIM STINSON Post-Tribune


MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. -- An early Sunday morning fire killed four people in a crowded house with makeshift rooms where illegal immigrants might have lived.

The fire, which engulfed the back end of the two-story home at 2021 Buffalo St., quickly destroyed most of the house.

Fire officials said they did not know what caused the fire. Neighbors said they heard an explosion and saw residents flee.

Investigators said there were many unanswered questions about the blaze, which broke out around 3 a.m.

12 mattresses found



One problem may have been a wariness of some of the residents to speak to authorities. Neighbors said the house was overoccupied with Asian and Hispanic residents who work at a local Chinese restaurant.

Chuck Greis, Michigan City deputy fire chief, said immigration officials had been to the scene.

Four Hispanic residents occupying the second floor died in the fire, according to an official with the LaPorte County coroner's office.

Fire officials said they found about 12 mattresses in the house, which was up for sale for $39,900, according to an online listing.

Neighbors said it was home to many employees of the Fortune House, a Michigan City restaurant on U.S. 20. Fortune House owner Zhi Jian Jiang could not be reached for comment, but a real estate agent marketing the property said Jiang owns the Buffalo Street home.

Neighbor Holly Hanrath, 27, had visited the house about three weeks ago with her husband to explore it as a possible investment opportunity. Her husband smelled natural gas near the second-floor stove in the kitchen, she recalled.

Hanrath also said she was concerned about old electrical wiring and dry wooden windows. Makeshift plywood walls separated some of the rooms, she said.

'We don't know why they left'

Firefighters extinguished the fire in about three hours. The fact so many residents escaped but couldn't be found frustrated investigators.

"We don't know why they left, why they did not want to stay and why they did not want to address any questions we may have," Indiana State Fire Marshal Roger Johnson said at a new conference.

Officials did not divulge information about the victims' identities or ages.

Contributing: AP

http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pb ... CAT=News01

Article published Aug 17, 2006
Mexican consulate to assist in MC fire aftermath

By STAN MADDUX
Tribune Correspondent

The Mexican government will take over efforts to identify the last Michigan City fire victim, locating the families of all four men and giving them a proper burial.

“We're happy they stepped forward,” said LaPorte County Chief Deputy Coroner John Sullivan.

Sullivan said Thursday the names of three of the four men who died in the early Sunday blaze at a home have been uncovered.

The third identification was made Wednesday from a voter ID card issued out of Mexico along with a Social Security card found in the burned out structure at 2021 Buffalo St.

According to Sullivan, the voter ID contained the victim's photo and name along with an address out of Chicago.

The Social Security card appeared legitimate but is being closely examined to make sure it's not counterfeit.

Due to the possibility the Social Security card might be a fake, Sullivan said, whether that individual was a legal U.S. citizen hasn't been determined.

“We're making sure that is a valid card, not something made on a computer,” Sullivan said.

Also unknown is the legal residency of the other three men.

The names of the deceased are still being withheld, though, because efforts to locate and notify their next of kin about the deaths have been unsuccessful.

According to Sullivan, the first two names were found earlier this week on the same type of picture ID issued out of Mexico that both men carried in wallets recovered from their back pockets.

By the end of the week, Sullivan said, a representative from the Consulate General of Mexico branch in Chicago will take possession of the bodies, currently in cold storage at Root Funeral Home and Midwest Crematory Center, both in Michigan City.

Sullivan said the coroner's office Tuesday contacted the consulate general, an extension of the Mexican government providing services in the United States and their families across the border.

Within 24 hours, the consulate general responded and agreed to take an active role in the case.

Michigan City Police Thursday reported no new developments in the case.

Earlier this week, authorities revealed an accelerant was detected in the back porch area and kitchen of the two-story house that contained a downstairs and upstairs unit.

Exactly how many people lived there wasn't known but 16 mattresses and box springs were found inside the home, which contained 6 bedrooms.

According to police, the owner of Fortune House on U.S. 20, Zhi Jian Jiang, told investigators the house, which also belongs to him, was occupied by his employees.

Many people were seen by neighbors fleeing the burning structure.

Sullivan said he's shown pictures of the deceased to the restaurant owner and some of the Fortune House workers.

Nobody, though, recognized their faces.