A giant fire that ripped through an apartment building early Saturday afternoon produced no injuries or fatalities but did displace 36 families, Merrillville Fire Chief Ed Yerga said Sunday.
Merrillville firefighters were sent to the 1800 block of W. 86th Avenue in the Evergreen Luxury Apartments for an apartment fire, Yerga said in a release. Mutual aid units that arrived first were met with heavy black smoke, he said.
After the first Merrillville rig arrived to “heavy fire conditions in the roof of a three-story apartment building,” crews swept the building to make sure all residents had gotten out, Yerga said. While firefighters were able to get the fire under control within an hour or so, they’d switched to defensive operations because of the wind and heavy fire, he said.
Davida Adams, who lived near the affected building, watched as firefighters worked. Videos she took of the fire showed it raging through the roof.
“My boyfriend heard a big ‘pop’ — it wasn’t an explosion, but a loud noise – and he started yelling, ‘Davida! Davida! Come see this,’” Adams said. “I looked out and started seeing flames come through the roof. It burned for at least an hour before it was put out.”
A resident in the building next door who gave his name as David G. said his family arrived home to find their building padlocked. They had no idea anything had happened until he saw something on his home security camera.
“I looked at my phone, and I saw a guy walking through our apartment around 7 p.m., so I called the police to file a report. They told me the fire happened,” David G. said. “The guy in the apartment was the (property manager) checking to see what damage we had. Then we got here today and saw there’s a big hole in our roof because we live on the third floor.”
The fire didn’t reach David G.’s apartment, he said, but he and his family are still staying somewhere else while repairs get sorted out.
“We’ll be able to come Monday to get what we can, and we have insurance, so I’m not too worried,” he said.
Yerga said he’s contacted the District 1 Mutual Aid Box Alarm 207 investigation team to determine the fire’s cause. The department is also working with the property manager, the American Red Cross and the Ross Township Trustee’s office to help the displaced residents in the 36 units who’ve been displaced, he said.
The Crown Point, Gary, Griffith, Hobart, Lake Ridge and Lake Hills Fire Departments, as well as Chesterton Fire Chief Sean O’Donnell, assisted, Yerga said.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
