Officials confirmed Wednesday that a Portage house where someone died in a fire Tuesday had exploded, but said the cause is still under investigation.
Identifying the victim could take a few days, Porter County Coroner Cyndi Dykes said Wednesday.
Indiana Department of Homeland Security Deputy Communications Director Ashley Morgan confirmed that the house exploded, but the cause is still being investigated by the state fire marshal’s office.
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Dykes was unaware of any other fatalities in the county that could be related to Tuesday’s brutal storm.
Getting to the scene of the fatal house fire Tuesday afternoon was delayed because of road conditions after violent storms came through the region, Portage Fire Chief Chris Crail said.
“Everything was breaking free” when the fire call came, he said during a Tuesday evening news conference at the police station.
“It was quite delayed for us to get there because of the amount of trees and power lines that were downed,” Crail said.
Residents driving around the city contributed to the delays, Police Chief Michael Candiano said. “It seems like it was busier than a Saturday afternoon. There were just people everywhere,” making it difficult to get around.
Most of the city was without power, and so many trees fell that main streets were blocked.
“The amount of calls we had in the city at that time were off the charts,” Candiano said.
Several officers parked a mile away and ran on foot to try to get to the home, which was fully involved when they arrived.
The call for the house fire arrived at 12:20 p.m., Public Information Officer Rob Maynard said. First responders relied on the streets and sanitation crews to clear the way to get there and to other emergencies.
Several minor injuries were reported from other incidents in the city, Maynard said.
Candiano gave credit to Portage Township Schools for allowing emergency vehicles to get fuel from the school district’s pumps, with gas stations closed because of the widespread power failures.
“I think we can pretty much get to most places at this point,” he said.
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“A lot of our smaller streets are still completely down. Power lines are still down. We’ll get there,” he said.
Despite the treacherous weather conditions, Candiano was not aware of any officers being injured.
“I think we were pretty fortunate. We had officers out in the cars responding when it was going on,” he said.
“It’s been a wild summer now, this whole region,” Candiano said.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.