6 die in house fire, 3 young children and their mother among the victims

An early morning blaze swept through a Logansport, Indiana, house Wednesday, killing six people, including three young children and their mother.

By Wednesday evening, six bodies had been pulled from the scene of the fire in this rural community about 80 miles north of Indianapolis, authorities confirmed. Two other people, believed to be a mother and adult son, escaped the flames, were taken to an area hospital and are expected to survive.

The victims include a 25-year-old woman and three of her children, ages 3, 1 and 1 month, said the Indiana State Police. The two survivors are related to a 42-year-old man and his 10-year-old daughter who also died in the fire, police said. It wasn't immediately clear whether the adult victims were related.

There was no sign of criminal activity at the scene of the fire, said Indiana State Police Sgt. Tony Slocum, though the investigation was continuing.

“It’s a long, tedious situation ... but investigations, especially fire investigations take some time,” Cass County Sheriff Randy Pryor said at a late-afternoon news conference.

Residents told IndyStar that in a town like Logansport, most people are in some way impacted by such tragedies.

Angela Minglin, owner of Minglin Jewelers, said it seems almost everyone she's talked to in this town of 17,755 residents has been connected to the grieving families.

"I think between all the families, everybody in a town (this size is) affected by somebody, whether they knew them, a friend of the family or your kids went to school with them," she said.

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The fire was reported about 1:50 a.m., and firefighters fought the blaze for more than five hours. They dealt with frigid temperatures and a shortage of water.

The home is in a rural area with no fire hydrants.

"Some of these rural areas, firefighters are used to carrying water with them when they respond to the scene," said David Hosick, public information officer for the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. "It can be tricky, especially in winter."

Logansport Mayor Dave Kitchell called the fire the latest twist in a bittersweet year for the city and Cass County, Indiana.

In March, Realtors.com named Logansport the top U.S. small town where homebuyers “would actually want to live,” citing its affordability, low unemployment rate and low violent crime rate.  

But then, Kitchell noted, came a series of tragedies.  

Two young children who were killed in a Logansport house fire in September. A local 3-year-old boy lost to an accidental gunshot in October. Two area teens killed and others hospitalized after a crash with a suspected drunken driver earlier this month on U.S. 35. And then came the horrific blaze on the banks of the Wabash.  

“It underscores how precious life is,” Kitchell said, “and how fragile young lives are, especially.”

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