Gary man is injured in house fire

A Gary man was rushed to an area hospital Friday evening after an explosion ripped through his modular house in the city’s Black Oak section, officials said.

Firefighters worked through the evening putting out the fire, which may have been a gas explosion in the 3800 block of Marshall Place, Gary Deputy Fire Chief Mark Jones said Friday, though its cause remains under investigation. The man, the only occupant, had gotten out of the house before firefighters arrived and was first taken to Methodist Hospitals Northlake campus, Jones said.

The man’s condition was unknown, Jones said, nor was he sure whether the man had been airlifted to Chicago.

Neighbor Suzanne Sommers said she and her husband were hanging out in their living room when they heard a huge explosion that upset their dogs. Sommers’ husband originally thought the noise was thunder because a tree near them had gotten struck by lighting the other day, and it sounded the same.

But then they heard their neighbor at the front door.

“He yelled ‘9-1-1’ and there he was, still burning,” a visibly shaken Sommers said. “We were putting cold, wet towels on him and gave him some water while we waited for someone to get here, and we had to call 9-1-1 twice before someone picked up. But once we got them, we heard the sirens pretty quick. He was burned so bad.”

Sommers said the man, a steelworker, lived in the home for several years, and they looked after each other.

“He’s quiet, doesn’t bother anyone. We keep an eye on his place when he goes on vacation because we don’t ever go anywhere,” she said. “We didn’t smell any gas or hear any clicking (that sometimes precedes gas explosions.)”

NIPSCO was on the scene and had disconnected power to the place.

Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter.