iStock/Thinkstock(LOGANSPORT, Ind.) — At least one person has died after getting trapped in a house fire near Logansport, Indiana.
The fire ignited at the residence just before 2 a.m. local time on Wednesday in a rural area of Cass County, about three miles outside the city of Logansport. Two adults managed to escape as the flames engulfed the home and were taken to a local hospital, according to Indiana State Police Sgt. Tony Slocum.
The remote location of the house posed a challenge for firefighters trying to access the nearest water source to douse the flames, Slocum said. The early morning blaze has now been fully extinguished.
Authorities have recovered at least one body from the scorched wreckage of the collapsed home and are searching for more, Slocum said. The deceased person has not been identified.
“Right now, we have one confirmed fatality,” Slocum told reporters at a press conference Wednesday. “We’re obviously in the stages of trying to get into the structure and see if there are more bodies to be recovered. We anticipate that to be the case but we haven’t verified that.”
The total number of missing individuals in the house fire has not been confirmed, according to Indiana State Fire Marshal Jim Greeson.
“There’s so much destruction here,” Greeson told reporters, adding that it’s unclear whether the residence was equipped with smoke detectors.
The Cass County Sheriff’s Office previously told ABC News that six people — four children and two adults — were killed in the fire.
The cause of the blaze remains under investigation and the Indiana State Fire Marshal’s office is leading the probe, which is being treated as a possible criminal case.
“We’re going to consider it a criminal investigation until we find out otherwise,” Slocum told reporters. “We’re very early in this investigation.”
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