INDIANAPOLIS — A 70-year-old man was injured after a candle he knocked over started a fire at an apartment complex on the south side of Indianapolis early Monday morning.
Fire crews responded to Pine Glen Apartments in the 4100 block of Burkhart Drive, near the intersection of South Meridian Street and East Hanna Avenue, shortly after 3:30 a.m.
The Indianapolis Fire Department said a 70-year-old man in a first-floor apartment knocked over a chair, sending a candle onto a blanket and starting the fire, which spread to the apartment above and attic. The man sustained slight injuries attempting to put out the fire and was transported to a local hospital.
Multiple residents called 911 reporting they were trapped in the building due to heavy smoke. Firefighters helped around 20 people out of the building.
IMPD officers also helped a woman and two young children get out of the building from a second-story window prior to firefighters' arrival. They were not injured.
No other residents were injured in the fire, IFD said. Four units in the apartment building were directly impacted, and utilities were shut off for the entire building.
IFD Victims Assistance is working with apartment management and the Red Cross for shelter for those displaced.