A two-year-old child is dead as a result of a Friday morning fire at a rural Starke County home. The Bass Lake Fire Department responded to a residence in the area of 700 South and 300 East just before 7:30 a.m. yesterday They pulled two adults from the blaze but were unable to find a two-year-old child in time. Continue reading
A two-year-old child is dead as a result of an early morning fire at a rural Starke County home. The Bass Lake Fire Department responded to a residence in the area of 700 South and 300 East just before 7:30 a.m. They pulled two adults from the blaze but were unable to find a two-year-old child in time. Continue reading
Officials from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department went to the scene of a Monday night fire at the former Hacker Shack building located on the grounds of the Bass Lake Golf Course.
The building had been torn down and it appeared that the rubble was set on fire like a controlled burn, according to officials.
Bass Lake firefighters were called to the location on 500 South on Monday at 5:30 p.m. and they remained there for a few hours. No injuries were reported.
The Bass Lake Fire Department was called to a fire Monday night where the debris of the old Hacker Shack building on the Bass Lake Golf Course was located.
Fire Chief Les Jensen told WKVI News said that the building was previously demolished. The remaining rubble was on fire when they got there. The firefighters arrived at the scene on 500 S. shortly after they were notified which was around 5:30 p.m.
Jensen said the sheriff’s department was notified of the incident and it remains under investigation.
A fire that started in a garage at Bass Lake that spread to a home Wednesday night was deemed accidental.
Bass Lake firefighters, with the assistance of the Washington Township Fire Department, put out the blaze at the scene on the south side of Bass Lake. Bass Lake Fire Chief Les Jensen told WKVI News that they were on the scene for about four hours. The Indiana State Fire Marshal was at the scene Friday to assess the damage and cause of the fire.
Members of the Bass Lake Fire Department battled a garage fire and a house fire Wednesday night.
Bass Lake Fire Chief Les Jensen said they were called to the scene on the southside of the lake at 10:30 p.m. CT and the fire had spread to a neighboring home. Jensen said the garage was a total loss and the house suffered some damage.
The Indiana State Fire Marshal will visit the scene today (Friday) help investigate the cause of the fire.
No injuries were reported. Crews from the Washington Township Fire Department assisted.
A semi vs. passenger car accident at the intersection of State Road 10 and Range Road just east of North Judson Monday morning resulted in fatal injuries.
Officers arrived at the scene shortly after 11 a.m. and found a semi tanker on its side engulfed in flames. The passenger car involved in the accident was located on the side of the roadway, according to the accident report. The driver was airlifted from the scene to South Bend Memorial Hospital where she later died of her injuries. The passenger and the semi driver were taken to IU Health Starke Hospital and later transferred to South Bend Memorial Hospital. Their medical conditions are unknown.
WKVI morning show host Tom Berg and sports director Nathan Welter answered their cold water challenge Thursday afternoon in the radio station parking lot. They were called out by news director Mary Perren to either donate $10 to the Hoosier Burn Camp and get wet or stay dry and write a $100 check. The guys decided to play along, so members of the Bass Lake Fire Department brought their dump tank to our parking lot and filled it with water. Several listeners also stopped by with extra ice and donations to really help the guys chill out. Another Step Forward Walking Challenge Coordinator Ryan Greer had also been called out previously, as had fire chief Les Jensen. They took the plunge as well. So did Knox High School Band Director Craige Phipps, who opted not to prolong his torture when Nathan called him out. WKVI raised $200 in donations for the Hoosier Burn Camp, thanks to the generosity of the listeners who donated and the staff for being such good sports.
WKVI morning show host Tom Berg and sports director Nathan Welter will be chilling out, or perhaps freezing to death, for charity this afternoon at the WKVI studios in Knox. News director Mary Perren paid it forward by calling both of them out as part of the cold water challenge. Continue reading
The Knox City Council will meet in regular session tonight where the council members will once again look at the outdoor storage ordinance that has come back from the plan commission.
Building Commissioner Bruce Williams told WKVI that the ordinance has not changed from what the council previously reviewed. Knox Mayor Rick Chambers told the council members at their last meeting that same thing and it just has to have final action.
The Starke County Sheriff’s Department investigated two accidents on Sunday.
At 11:20 a.m., officers responded to a call of a vehicle in a water-filled ditch on State Road 8 and Range Road. The car landed on its roof in the ditch. The driver, Kaitlyn Vukelich of Schererville, and her four-year-old daughter were pulled from the vehicle by a passerby.
The owner of a Knox business that was destroyed by fire last week is jailed without bond, charged with arson and insurance fraud. James L. Campbell, 46, of Knox, was arrested this afternoon by officers from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department and Indiana Department of Homeland Security’s Fire Investigation Division. Campbell owns Starke County Recycling, also known as C&C Salvage. The business, located on U.S. 35 just south of Toto Road, caught fire on Thursday, March 20. Starke County dispatchers were notified at 5:17 p.m. The Bass Lake, Knox-Center Township, Hamlet, Washington Township, Koontz Lake, North Judson-Wayne Township, San Pierre and Monterey Fire Departments all responded to the blaze and spent several hours getting it under control. One firefighter was injured. Black smoke was visible for miles, and a brigade of tanker trucks hauled water to the scene. Continue reading
An investigator from the state fire marshal’s office will be called in to determine the origin and cause of a fire that destroyed a Starke County business. The Bass Lake Fire Department was initially called to C &C Salvage on U.S. 35 south of Toto Road at 5:17 p.m. Thursday night, according to dispatchers from the Starke County Sheriff’s Office. A black mushroom cloud of smoke could be seen for miles. Firefighters from the Knox, North Judson, Hamlet, Washington Township, Koontz Lake, San Pierre and Monterey were all called in to assist. Bass Lake Fire Chief Les Jensen says one firefighter suffered minor injuries. Continue reading
One person was found dead at a fire scene at 2795 E. State Road 10 in Knox on Monday night.
The Bass Lake Fire Department was called to the scene at 11:05 p.m. CT and firefighters were on the scene for approximately eight hours. Members of the North Judson-Wayne Township Fire Department assisted at the scene.
Firefighters from the Knox and Bass Lake Fire Departments spent the afternoon fighting a blaze at a home southeast of Knox on County Road 550 East at CR 340 S. Bass Lake Fire Chief Les Jensen says their efforts were hampered by items stacked several feet high inside the home, which made getting to the flames a challenge. He finally had to call in a backhoe to help clear the way for firefighters. Smoke from the blaze was visible from U.S. 35. The homeowner was at home but not in the house when the fire started, according to a neighbor who was passing by, saw the flames and called 911. Jensen says the origin of the fire has not been determined at this time.
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A volunteer firefighter for 26 years, Phillip L. Banasiak passed away on Friday. Banasiak had been the fire chief for the Bass Lake Fire Department for eight years and dedicated his life to saving others. In 2011, however, Banasiak went through one of the hardest ordeals of his life after he was diagnosed with complications from prostate cancer.
A Knox man died Sunday while cutting down trees.
Starke County Coroner Kris Rannells confirmed that John A. Nolen, Sr. was cutting down trees with his nephew Sunday afternoon when a tree fell on him and trapped him underneath it. Nolen was attempting to guide the tree with a rope as his nephew cut the trunk when it fell.
Starke County Emergency Medical Services and responders from the Bass Lake Fire Department arrived at the scene at an area east of Starke County on 400 South, but Nolen had already died of his injuries. The Starke County Sheriff’s Department and the Starke County Coroner conducted an investigation and Coroner Rannells found that 69-year-old John Nolen, Sr. died instantly at the scene of blunt force trauma.
The Bass Lake Fire Department battled a house fire at 8745 S. Sycamore Street in Monterey yesterday morning. Fire Chief Les Jensen said the fire department was called to the residence around 10:00 a.m. The fire was ruled accidental and was caused from common combustibles stored too closely to a hot water heater.
The home was a total loss. The Monterey Fire Department assisted at the scene.
Three fire departments battled a house fire at 200 E. and 500 S. in the Bass Lake area yesterday afternoon.
Firefighters from the Bass Lake, Knox-Center Township and North Judson-Wayne Township Fire Departments responded to the location where a 100-year old structure was fully engulfed in flames before crews arrived on scene. No cause has been released yet. A representative from the Indiana State Fire Marshal’s office was scheduled to meet with Bass Lake fire officials to determine a cause of the fire.
A fire consumed the home of Elizabeth Sallee at 1520 E. 100 S. in Knox last night.
When firefighters arrived at the home shortly before 10:00 p.m. last night, the fire was fully engulfed at the east end of the home. High winds caused the fire to spread quickly throughout the structure and soon it was fully engulfed. Elizabeth Sallee was not home at the time of the fire, but her daughter and two-year-old son escaped the home without injury.
