(New Carlisle, IN) - A Tuesday afternoon apartment fire claimed many lives, all of them pets.

 

Just after 1 p.m. local time, firefighters responded to a call at 705 W. Michigan St. in New Carlisle.

 

“When we got here, we had fire blowing out of the two back windows,” Fire Chief Josh Schweizer said. “So we were able to get a little water on it, make entry, and extinguish the fire pretty quickly.”

 

The apartment residents were not home at the time. Shweizer said a nearby business owner, seeing the flames, made sure no people were in the building and called authorities. However, one of the units contained what Schweizer referred to as “an over-abundance of cats.” Roughly 27 felines were in the apartment. Firefighters were able to save a few, but a majority of them died in the fire.

 

As of Tuesday afternoon, the fire marshal was still determining the cause of the fire.

Schweizer said the building’s owner secured hotel rooms for the two occupants. The Red Cross also assisted.

 

The incident was nearly a repeat of a situation two months ago. In March, a second-story apartment just two building to the east caught fire. No people were home, but a dog died in that blaze.