Dozens without a place to live following apartment fire in Elkhart County

 

ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. -- The Concord  Township Fire Department says approximately 60 people are without a place  to live after a massive fire erupted Tuesday evening at Arbor Lakes Apartments in Concord Township.

According to dispatch, the call came in at approximately 10:15 p.m. Tuesday.

No one was hurt.

Firefighters said they had to evacuate an entire building.

The Red Cross is at the scene helping victims.

Gianna Wiseman was inside the apartment as it went up in flames.

"It was raining fire," said Wiseman. "It was all smoke and orange, I couldn't see anything."

Investigators say some medications that residents might have might be damaged by smoke and unusable - and some doctors may need to be contacted right away.

"They’re getting facilities for the people who are displaced. We do have a few people who have medication, oxygen concerns that they’re on – we need to make sure that that’s taken care of but they will find the shelter for them and put them up for the evening," says Shawn Miller, the Deputy Chief of the EMS Concord Fire Department.

Approximately 100 firefighters battled 15 mph winds while stopping the blaze.

Residents of the building were given new units with the complex.

"I don't know where we would go otherwise if we weren't being put up," said Wiseman.

Officials say the cause of the fire should be determined by Friday.