INDIANAPOLIS — HVAF of Indiana has provided an update on the fire that burned at the Manchester Apartments in the 900 block of Pennsylvania Avenue, near downtown Indianapolis:
On October 26, at around 9:30 P.M., there was a catastrophic fire at HVAF of Indiana’s Manchester Apartments — located at 960 N. Pennsylvania Street in downtown Indianapolis. This facility serves as a transitional housing property for 48 homeless veterans.
After an investigation led by The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Indianapolis Fire Department (IFD), it was determined that it was an accidental fire.
All 48 veterans have been accounted for and are being taken care of in hotel rooms around the city. We are coordinating with community partners to provide the appropriate support. Critical needs include permanent housing options, access to essential food, clothing, and hygiene items, cell phones, and transportation.
HVAF Headquarters did not sustain any damage and regular support services will proceed as scheduled, including the pantry services at the Donald W. Moreau Sr. Veterans Community Center. The pantry will be open on Tuesday and Thursday from 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM, ensuring that essential support continues without interruption. Additional pantry hours for the displaced veterans are also being offered throughout the week.
If you would like to support HVAF during this time, please donate at the fire assistance fund at this link.
You can also purchase items on our Amazon Wish List that we will provide to the displaced veterans.
For veterans struggling to return to self-sufficiency, Saturday night’s loss is unimaginable. We appreciate the support of our community as we work to rebuild and recover over the next two years.
Leslie Leffel spent part of her Monday on a mission: help veterans in crisis from a catastrophic fire.
"We loaded up the car and brought some things downtown to hopefully help out and relieve some of their loss," Leffel said.
The donations, from Leffel, her husband and their neighbors in Carmel, are some of many coming in, after the HVAF of Indiana facility went up in flames at 9th and Pennsylvania streets around 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26.
The fire gutted the Manchester Apartments, which is transitional housing at the facility that helps homeless Hoosier veterans.
"It was heartbreaking to see," Leffel said of the fire. "This is their home. Their things are gone, and that's heartbreaking."
The fire burned for hours, displacing 48 people out of 51 units in the building.
Emmy Hildebrand, the nonprofit's CEO, got a text that the building was on fire Saturday. She saw the flames from Interstate 65.
"When I could see that amount of smoke from that far away, I knew it was going to be bad," Hildebrand said.
She's still assessing dollar amounts for the damage but calls it devastating.
"Most of it is burned. What's not burned is soaked heavily with water damage, so recovery, we're talking about 18 to 24 months. This is not something that's gonna be back online serving veterans in the next week or so," Hildebrand said.
As the ATF and Indianapolis firefighters investigate what sparked the fire, Hildebrand is running into some challenges with the aftermath.
"We are having a little difficulty with hotels, due to the Taylor Swift concert this weekend," Hildebrand said. "So we originally located all the veterans in one hotel on early Sunday morning. We had to relocate all of them yesterday."
Now, the veterans are spread out in three different hotels across the city through next week.
Hildebrand said long-term housing will be a complex process until they rebuild.
And it's been tough on these veterans, who already had little to nothing.
Now, everything's gone.
"Many of them are worried about their personal belongings," Hildebrand said. "So it's hard to tell them, 'You can't go back and get your phone. You cannot go back in to get your wallet. It's not safe.'"
But in all this loss, there are signs of hope.
After putting posts on social media asking for donations to a fire assistance fund and sharing an Amazon wish list, they're getting an outpouring of support.
"It's coming in. Thank God we got some help," an HVAF volunteer said.
Volunteers on Monday sorted through donated clothes, food and hygiene items. People have also donated money to pay for hotels and transportation.
It's all to help veterans who were trying to turn their lives around, only to get life derailed again by fire.
"It takes a special person to raise their right hand and say, 'I'll do whatever it takes to defend this country and our people and our way of life.' And I think that fact alone means the rest of us who benefit from their service, need to be willing to step up when they face crisis," Hildebrand said.
If you would like to support HVAF during this time, you can donate here. You can also purchase items on their Amazon wish list for displaced veterans.