Fatal Ind. fire likely caused by portable heater
WARSAW, Ind. — Fire officials in northeastern Indiana say a house fire that killed one person appears to have been started by a portable heater used to thaw out frozen pipes.
The Kosciusko County Fire Investigation Team said Thursday that Wednesday’s blaze at a lake home in Warsaw apparently started in the home’s basement, where the portable heater had been set up.
Authorities have not released the name of the person whose body was found inside the gutted home.
Sgt. Chad Hill of the county sheriff’s department tells The Journal Gazette the home was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived and intense flames prevented them from entering the residence.
Two renters living in part of the house escaped the fire and called 911 from a nearby home.