The alarm came into La Pore County E-911 at approximately 4:14 AM on May 27, 2003 by a passerby and a neighbor. The fire was reported at the Dye Plumbing and Heating business located at 712 Madison Street in La Pore, Indiana. The city of La Porte has a population of 22,000+ and is covered by a full time fire department with 45 members working out of three stations. La Porte is located ten miles south of Lake Michigan and 60 miles from Chicago. The initial response was by two engines, one 110' Arial and a Quint.
Being first on scene I observed that there was heavy smoke in the area with fire venting a rear window on the second floor. The first and second in engines set up for an exterior attack as the fire vented through the roof and the front windows of the 100+ year old building. Approximately 20 minutes into the fire the store front collapsed into the street without warning; firefighters had just evacuated the area seconds before the collapse.
Approximately one hour into the fire the rear west wall collapsed on the two story structure which encompased almost one quarter of the block. During the early stages of the fire all off-duty firefighters were called in and mutual aid was summoned from Westville Fire Department and Coolspring Township Volunteer Fire Department. Firefighters were unable to save the structure which was leveled. They were able to protect the remaining half of a block from fire extension and used a reported three million gallons of water during the seven hours they battled the fire.
A cause and origin investigation indicated the fire was intentionally set and the case is currently being investigated by the La Porte City Police detective bureau.
