4 injured, including 2 officers, in Griffith apartment fire

GRIFFITH, Ind. - Four people were injured in an apartment fire in Griffith, Indiana, Wednesday, including two police officers who rescued a mother and her baby from the third floor of the building.

First responders were dispatched to a fire at Park West Apartments, 1108 Reyone Dr., about 2 a.m. and found smoke emanating from the building, according to Griffith police. Because Griffith is served by a volunteer fire department, police officers were the first on the scene.

Officers quickly entered the building and began evacuating its occupants, police said. Two officers rescued a mother and her baby from the top floor of the three-story building.

Both were hospitalized for smoke inhalation, and are expected to survive their injuries, police said.

As crews attacked the fire, they learned that the blaze was emanating from a single apartment in the 12-unit subsection of the building, police said. One person in that unit was hospitalized in an unknown condition.

Another person who lived in a different unit initially refused medical treatment, but later asked to be hospitalized as well, police said.

Most residents have been allowed back into their apartments, police said, with the exception of those living in the unit where the fire originated.

The Red Cross and the Indiana fire marshal’s office were responding to the scene Wednesday morning, police said.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing, but police said that the kitchen stove could not be ruled out as the point of origin.