INDIANAPOLIS — A mother and her young daughter were seriously injured in a house fire on Indianapolis' near southeast side early Thursday morning.
Fire crews were called to a home in the 2300 block of East Legrande Avenue, near the intersection of South Keystone Avenue and East Raymond Street, shortly before 2:30 a.m. They found heavy fire coming from the front porch of a single-story house.
A man at the house told firefighters he had been smoking on the porch around 9 p.m., and after going to bed, he was awakened by a noise around 2:15 a.m. to find fire coming from the porch. He ran back into the house to alert his daughter and granddaughter.
All three made it out of the house through the front door, but the woman and her daughter, who is under 5 years old, were seriously injured during the evacuation, the Indianapolis Fire Department said. The woman was transported to Eskenazi Hospital, and her daughter was taken to Riley Hospital for Children.
People in a neighboring house also evacuated and were not injured. The side of their home sustained some damage from the fire.
Crews had the fire under control in about 15 minutes. The blaze was mainly confined to the house's front porch area.
The fire is still under investigation, but early indications point to the fire's cause as improperly discarded smoking material on the porch, according to IFD.
Smoke alarms in the home were working properly.
Investigators have not shared a damage estimate from the fire.