Rounds of ammunition inside New Carlisle house fire

NEW CARLISLE, Ind. -- Safe and sound despite thousand of rounds of ammunition, exploding inside. 

A family's home is burned to the ground after an overnight fire in New Carlisle. The family was not home, and was at a nearby campground. 

But the fire was large, and could be seen from downtown New Carlisle before fire crews arrived.

"I woke up close to 2 in the morning to loud popping and cracking. It sounded like gunshots over and over again," says Mariah Glaze, who lives just behind the now torched house. 

Video from her security camera captured the pops of the ammunition exploding in the heat.

The massive flames from the house glowed brightly in the darkness.

"It was over the trees. It was a mushroom cloud of smoke," recalls Glaze.

Smoke and explosions were heard and seen in every direction.

"There's a grill on the porch with a propane tank. It was shooting out flames every couple of seconds," she adds.

Neighbors told ABC57 News and the New Carlisle Fire Department that there were thousands of rounds inside.

Glaze was walking past the house and showed ABC57 news a mangled, burned shell laying by the grass.

"Ammunition is an ever-present hazard in fires. Safe storage is very important in the event of fire," says New Carlisle Assistant Fire Chief Josh Schweizer. 

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, and officials may never know how the ammunition was stored.

But Schweizer says there is a safe way to store rounds. 

"[In a] dry, warm, pace. It should be stored in a wooden box, separate from the weapons themselves," he explains. "When ammunition heats, it does explode, but not with enough force to seriously injure someone. The wood is for containment purposes only." 

He says that metal boxes are not safe in the event of fire, and to not keep weapons loaded.

"Weapons could discharge and wound someone," he explains. 

Schweizer adds that if your home catches on fire, and you have weapons and ammunition inside, to let firefighters know as soon as possible so that they can proceed with caution and stay safe.