MADISON, Ind. — A family and neighbors in Southern Indiana and some neighbors are mourning the loss of a mother and her son after they died in an apartment fire Monday night. Several others impacted by the fire are looking for another place to call home.
The Madison Fire Department said crews responded to a call of a fire at Windridge Apartments around 11:30 p.m. They were able to put out the fire, but the department said they found two people inside who did not survive.
"Fire suppression and rescue efforts were put in place immediately, but due to the fires advanced stage, those efforts were slowed due to the structural compromise," the department said in a Facebook post.
The identities of the people who died have not been released by the coroner.
The fire damaged eight units, and officials said some were a total loss.
One witness said it only took a couple of minutes for the fire to consume the building.
“I opened the door because I heard screaming and that’s when I saw the building go up in flames,” the neighbor said.
Another neighbor said they heard the crackling, but didn't immediately realize that there was a fire.
“I thought it was gunshots, so I started running and ducking and grabbing my nephew and my daughter,” they said.
Charlotte Dunn, who also lived in the complex, said she was grateful for her neighbors who woke her up that night.
“We heard a bang-bang and that there was a fire in every complex,” Dunn said.
Some of the tenants returned to survey the damage for themselves Tuesday and tried to salvage anything they could from the destruction.
“There’s no living in that thing now," Dunn said. She said she tried to grab everything she could think of while escaping her apartment, but she couldn't get all of it.
"I tried to save the kids' clothes, but it was too late,” she said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation. The Red Cross is assisting families displaced by the fire.
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