Two people were taken to hospitals Wednesday after a crash in the Grovertown area. According to the Starke County Sheriff’s Office, it happened at around 12:19 p.m. near the intersection of U.S. 30 and State Road 23, the bad part is that they faced bad treatment at the hospital and professionals from https://www.the-medical-negligence-experts.co.uk/ had to get involved. Continue reading
Classes will take place as usual Wednesday at Oregon-Davis Schools, after a bomb threat Tuesday. In a press release, Superintendent Don Harman says the corporation is working with local law enforcement agencies to deal with those responsible, noting they’re taking the event very seriously. Continue reading
A Rochester man who was wanted on multiple Fulton County felony warrants is jailed in Starke County after a Friday night incident in Koontz Lake. Continue reading
The cause of an early Friday morning fire that destroyed an abandoned house in downtown Hamlet is under investigation. Continue reading
Firefighters have been educating students on fire safety during Fire Prevention Week.
Hamlet Fire Department members were at the Oregon-Davis Elementary School on Wednesday morning where the students were taught basic prevention skills. The students were also given a demonstration of the extrication tool.
The firefighters challenged the students to remind parents to change the batteries in smoke detectors and to discuss a meeting place outside of the home in the case of a fire. Fire drills should be practiced and a back up plan in place in case of emergency situations.
The cause of the house fire on 175 North just east of U.S. 35 in Starke County on Sunday was determined as arson.
Knox-Center Township Fire Chief Kenny Pfost said there were many areas of origin. The home was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived at the scene. Firefighters were battling a woods fire at the time the house fire was called into the Sheriff’s Department. Hamlet and Washington Township firefighters assisted at the scene along with water and manpower support from the Koontz Lake Fire Department.
An investigator from the state fire marshal’s office is in Starke County to determine the origin and cause of a house fire yesterday north of Knox. The home on 175 North just east of U.S. 35 was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived, according to Knox-Center Township Fire Chief Kenny Pfost. He says they were notified at 2:16 p.m. but were responding to a woods fire at the time. Pfost immediately requested assistance from Hamlet and Washington Township due to their extended arrival time. The Koontz Lake Volunteer Fire Department also provided water and manpower support. No injuries were reported, and the home was believed to be unoccupied. Firefighters were on the scene for three hours.
An investigator from the state fire marshal’s office has been called in to determine the origin and cause of a Tuesday morning fire in the Hamlet trailer court. The Hamlet Fire Department was dispatched to 504 North Starke Street, Lot 10, at 12:34 a.m. Fire Chief Bob Goetz tells WKVI news no injuries were reported. The Koontz Lake Fire Department assisted. Dispatchers advise the fire department left at 2:18 a.m. and turned the scene over to the Hamlet Police Department until the fire marshal arrived.
County officials have offered the Koontz Lake Volunteer Fire Department what they hope is a workable option to make sure they are able to respond in tandem with Starke County EMS to all medical calls. Members of the fire department took exception with the county’s policy to let Grovertown-based Medic 5 decide whether they need their assistance, saying the department has provided medical services to year-round and seasonal residents since its establishment in the early 1940s. Starke County Council President Dave Pearman, who is also a volunteer firefighter, says public safety is the county’s number one concern. He says the Koontz Lake Fire Department’s pagers can be programmed to get the EMS calls automatically. He says it will cost the township about $30 per pager.
Township Trustee Mark Allen called a meeting of fire department, EMS, dispatch, sheriff’s office, emergency management and county government representatives. “The whole purpose of this meeting wasn’t trying to point fingers at anybody. I think some people might have thought about that in the meeting, but it’s not the case. This was just a matter of everybody getting on the same page and working for what’s best for the township. At least now we have an option. Actually Dave had a good suggestion. That was never suggested before. That would have been great to know that,” Allen told WKVI news after the meeting. Continue reading
Some changes have been made in the way fire departments are being dispatched in Starke County with the way medical calls are being handled and a meeting is scheduled for tonight to explain some of those changes.
Dave Pearman from the Washington Township Fire Department said the process is being streamlined.
“There were Post-it notes that were covering the monitors in our 911 dispatch office and we looked within the fire service and within emergency services altogether and asked ourselves what could we change about that?” stated Pearman.
A single-vehicle crash Monday evening near Grovertown claimed a Plymouth woman’s life. Cathryn Ellison, 24, of Plymouth, was westbound on 300 North just west of 1100 East, lost control of her vehicle and was ejected, according to information provided this morning by the Starke County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies responded to a report of a vehicle in a ditch. Ellison was trapped underneath it. Starke County Chief Deputy Coroner Doug O’Donnell pronounced her dead at the scene. Her official cause of death is listed as traumatic asphyxiation. Coroner Kris Rannells tells WKVI news that means the weight of the vehicle on top of her would not allow her to breathe. The Hamlet Police Department, Koontz Lake, Hamlet and Washington Township Fire Departments and the Indiana State Police assisted the Starke County Sheriff’s Office at the scene. The Indiana State Police will be reconstructing the crash.
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
Koontz Lake Fire Chief Andy Lawrence told WKVI that the incident occurred Tuesday night where a fire was reportedly intentionally set at a food booth and the announcer’s booth. The food booth was completely destroyed and the announcer’s booth sustained extensive damage.
An investigator from the state fire marshal’s office will be in Starke County today to investigate the origin of a house fire in Grovertown. The Washington Township Fire Department received the call around 2:30 yesterday afternoon, according to Assistant Chief Dave Pearman. The house at 200 North and 900 West was fully engulfed when they arrived. Firefighters from Hamlet, Koontz Lake and Knox also assisted, and with their help the blaze was contained in about 30 minutes. Pearman says the owners were home when the fire started. No injuries were reported.
A Grovertown man was injured in a tree stand accident Sunday afternoon in Starke County.
Indiana Conservation Officers, Starke County EMS and the Koontz Lake Fire Department responded to a call that 25-year-old Silas Wait, of Grovertown, had fallen from a tree stand in a heavily wooded area and was unable to move.
Hamlet firefighters were called to a garage fire in the area of 102 W. Pearl Street in Hamlet around 11:00 a.m. Knox and Koontz Lake Fire Departments were called to assist. At 11:40 a.m., the fire was reportedly under control.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known.
Three people were injured in a two vehicle accident around 8:30 p.m. last night on U.S. 30 just east of the Grovertown Truck Stop.
Starke County police say that a passenger car was northbound on 1100 East, crossed the median, hesitated in the median, and began to proceed into the path of an oncoming semi. The driver of the semi tried to stop and swerved to the right to attempt to avoid a collision, however the driver could not stop. The semi was loaded at the time of the accident.
The Starke County Sheriff’s Department is investigating an accident that occurred Friday at 600 East and 700 North.
The accident involved a pickup truck and a moped. The driver of the moped, whose name has not been released by police, was taken to IU Health Starke Hospital and later airlifted by Med Flight to Memorial Hospital Trauma Center where he was listed in critical condition. The driver of the pickup truck was not injured in the accident.
The names of either individual have not been released. The Starke County Sheriff’s Department was assisted by the Hamlet Fire Department, Starke County EMS and the Koontz Lake Fire Department.
