A woman is dead and a firefighter was injured in a fire that destroyed a house in Hammond’s Hessville section early Tuesday morning.
Firefighters were called around 4 a.m. to the 7200 block of Lindeberg for the house fire after a neighbor called it in, Hammond Fire Chief Jeff Smith said Tuesday. The neighbor told firefighters they heard two loud pops before they saw the fire from the house, he said.
As firefighters entered the building, one of them came in through a window and fell through the floor underneath him, Smith said. Items stacked in the basement, however, prevented him from falling all the way through, he said.
The firefighter, who suffered burns on his legs and one arm, was taken to Community Hospital in Munster and released later Tuesday morning, Smith said.
The woman was found inside the front door, Smith said. Her name wasn’t released pending notification of family.
The investigation with the state Fire Marshal was ongoing Tuesday afternoon, but Smith said they believe the fire started in the basement. The two pops the neighbor likely came from the woman’s oxygen tanks, he said.
The house was a total loss in terms of damages and will be razed shortly, Smith said.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
