Man injured after Whiting, Indiana fire destroys city councilman's house, damages 2 others

WHITING, Ind. (WLS) -- A house belonging to a Whiting city councilman was destroyed in a fire that injured a man and left at least two other homes damaged on Monday afternoon.

Chopper 7 was over the scene near Oliver and 119th Street, just across the street from Whiting High School around 4 p.m.

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Whiting police said fire crews arrived to find a garage fully engulfed in flames.

Somehow, all of it quickly became kindling in a fast-spreading fire that neighbors say appeared to start in a detached garage.

"I ran over to the driveway and looked down the driveway, and the driveway was engulfed in flames," said neighbor Debbie Bercik.

In total, eight structures were affected. The main house and three garages were destroyed. Three more houses were damaged. A carriage house was also destroyed by the fire.

Desperate to contain what they could, Anthony Novak and his neighbor grabbed their own garden hoses.

"I might sound selfish, but I figured if I could keep the fire contained to the garage, it wouldn't spread to his house, and it wouldn't spread to my house," said neighbor Anthony Novak.

Even firefighters from five different departments couldn't prevent that. Crews trudged in and out of Novak's home.

"I'm doing alright," Novak said.

Firefighters began to get the flames under control around 5 p.m.

The main house that was destroyed belongs to Whiting City Councilman Shawn Turpin, who was not home at the time the fire broke out. He was not injured. It was not immediately known if there were any pets in the home. Turpin said the house has been in his family for about 70 years.

"That's all of their childhood memories, photos," said Caitlyn Fritz, Turpin's friend. "Family heirlooms, stuff that's been passed down."

As hose water runoff cascaded down the sides and gushed down the front stairs of Turpin's longtime family home, the city council member could only stand across the street, surrounded by the support of his community.

Whiting police said one adult male was taken from the garage to a local hospital to be treated for burns at the start of the fire. They did not offer any further details about the man or his condition.

Whiting Mayor Steve Spebar is out of town at a conference, but was briefed on the situation.

A total of 30 to 40 firefighters from five fire departments responded to the blaze, police said.