Gary fire leaves man, girl dead, grandmother critically hurt

GARY, Ind. (AP) - An overnight house fire in Gary killed a 6-year-old girl and a 30-year-old man and left a grandmother hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said Tuesday.

Firefighters were called to the two-story home around 4:45 a.m. and found the man, Dennis Liggins, dead in a bedroom toward the rear of he house, Gary Fire Chief Sean O'Donnell told The (Northwest Indiana) Times.

A search of the house located the 6-year-old, Ciara Brown, who was pronounced dead at a hospital, O'Donnell said. Both lived in the home.

Fire officials initially reported Liggins was 21 years old.

The grandmother was rescued and airlifted to a Chicago-area hospital, where she was in critical condition, O'Donnell said.

A second family was living in the second story of the home, but was able to escape the fire, O'Donnell said.