Rising Sun, IN – A Rising Sun building was gutted in an overnight fire that injured several people.
The fire broke out around 4:30 a.m. at 121 S. High Street in a building that housed a former auto parts store on the first floor and apartments on the upper floors.
“Just a massive explosion. I said to her, ‘Some gas explosion’ is what it sounded like,” Mike Sheroan said. “It lit the room up like someone turned on the lights, and it shook, but if it had come this way, it would have blown all these windows out, easily.”
Images from the scene show part of the building had collapsed. Firefighters said the collapse happened because of a natural gas explosion.
Sheroan said debris from the building ended up in his yard.
“There’s a fire extinguisher, there’s a door, there’s glass all over the place – bits of this and that,” he said.
One child was rescued from the burning building by a firefighter.
Five people were injured, three seriously enough to require transport to the hospital, officials said. No other information on their injuries has been released.
Flames were still visible in the wreckage hours later.
“Some of these buildings have been remodeled multiple times. You’ve got false ceilings and we’ve got metal over other types of roofing, so it is creating a lot of trouble and it’ll be a long day as far as getting the hot spots put out,” Fire Chief Kevin Armstrong said.