One dead, one injured after Carmel strip mall fire; two businesses damaged

One person is dead and another is severely burned after a restaurant fire early Thursday morning in Carmel. (Photo by Daryl Black / WISH-TV)

By ASHLEY FOWLER
WISH-TV |
wishtv.com

Firefighters found one person dead and a second person injured after a fire at a strip mall in Carmel.

Carmel Police Department officers were called just before 3:30 a.m. Thursday to a welfare check in the 9800 block of Michigan Road, just north of Interstate 465.

Officers arrived and found a severely burned woman wrapped in a blanket in the middle of the street, yelling for help. She was later transported to Eskenazi Health.

Crews from the Carmel Fire Department arrived and found flames shooting from a strip mall on Michigan Road near where the woman was found.

Firefighters entered the building but had to leave after the ceiling collapsed, according to CFD Public Information Officer Tim Griffin. He says crews found a way back into the building, put the fire out, and found one person deceased.

A Carmel firefighter suffered a minor injury while battling the blaze but is expected to be okay.

Firefighters don’t know exactly when or where the fire began. The cause is under investigation.

The fire damaged a gourmet food business and a massage business. Michigan Road was closed for several hours for investigation and cleanup but was back open by 8:30 a.m.

This story was originally published by WISH-TV at wishtv.com/news/local-news/1-dead-1-injured-after-carmel-restaurant-fire-firefighter-hurt.