The fire started Tuesday morning around 6:45 at a building on the corner of W. Franklin Street and W Marion Street. Witnesses are calling this fire suspicious.
WSBT spoke with the fire investigator. He told us he has yet to rule on the cause.
Witnesses say after they heard explosions and saw fire, they saw a man running from the building with something wrapped in a white cloth...and he threw a backpack behind a nearby dumpster before running from the area.
The building is a Laundromat and an apartment building. Firefighters believe the fire started in a downstairs apartment unit.
People who live upstairs and evacuated for the fire told WSBT they heard some loud explosions and pops. When investigators went inside to investigate, they found propane torches and remnants of a gas can – the investigator told us he is not sure if those items contributed to the fire.
When police looked inside that backpack, they found a pellet gun.
Two people were taken to the hospital. One suffered from smoke inhalation, the other from burns. Both were then taken to a Fort Wayne burn unit.
Police are still looking for that man who ran from the fire.
If you have any information on this case, call police.
