MONROE COUNTY, Indiana — Four cats died and two homes suffered major damage in the fire in Monroe County early Wednesday morning.
The fire was reported around 2 a.m. March 20 on Boltinghouse Road, near the community of Woodbridge. That's roughly six miles northeast of Bloomington.
Responding crews found fire coming from the back of both homes, and worked for roughly an hour to knock down the flames in both houses, which sustained major damage.
The homeowners of one of the houses were home at the time and reported waking up to smoke alarms going off and finding smoke throughout the house, fire officials said. They evacuated and called 911.
The other homeowner wasn't at home at the time of the fire.
Three cats in one house and one in the other died in the fire, officials said.
"Fire investigators ruled the fire accidental and determined it was started by discarded chimney ashes that were still hot," the Monroe Fire Protection District said in a statement posted on social media. "The ashes caught leaves on fire which then spread along a fence line between the two homes before spreading out catching both houses on fire."
