INDIANAPOLIS — There's been two vacant property fires in Indianapolis in two days, and that just scratches the surface of issues the Indianapolis Fire Department has continued to see.
The department classifies fires by a number of categories:
- Occupied
- Unoccupied
- Vacant- Occupied
- Vacant-Unoccupied
Vacant building fires have continued to be an issue the fire department says they're seeing.
RELATED: Rise in risk for firefighters amid growing number of abandoned building fires (wrtv.com)
The department says they pose a safety risk to not only first responders, but the community too.
The vacant building fires are sparking conversation among neighbors about the bigger problems behind these type of properties.
"The reality of life is that people need shelter, things like that. It's tough that we don't have the affordability in Indianapolis for those people," one neighbor told WRTV.
Many neighbors wonder why a home property is vacant.
"Maybe people couldn't afford it or they were ran out or it wasn't kept up to code, it was lit on fire whatever," another neighbor said.
Vacant properties have continued to pose issues in Indianapolis.
RELATED: Abandoned home becomes persistent problem for east side Indy businesses (wrtv.com)
"We are always sensitive to properties that become vacant because they do attract problems," Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said.
The City of Indianapolis Department of Business and Neighborhood Services does not use the term "vacant property" for tracking purposes.
The Department engages with vacant properties through:
- repair orders
- demolition orders
- board orders
They say often times the numbers have both a vacant board order and a demolition or repair order.
They also state the figures are an estimate and don't represent a direct 1:1 ratio of the number of unsafe/abandoned structures.
Their latest numbers show there are more than 1,500 properties on their list:
- 1,540 open repair orders
- 329 open demolition orders
- 136 currently open board orders (373 opened in 2024 so far)
RELATED: Neighbors say vacant homes are to blame for crime in southwest side neighborhood (wrtv.com)
IFD believes Saturday morning's fire near 38th and College was set by squatters either cooking or trying to keep warm.
The next day, they responded to another vacant property fire on Shelby Street.
Both of those fires were determined to be vacant but occupied.
IFD believes both were warming/cooking fires.
They also responded to a fire the same day on Meadowlark Drive. Though that fire was not deemed to be vacant because it was being actively used for storage.
Vacant building fires have continued to be an issue for the fire department.
In 2024 so far they have responded to:
- Occupied - 38
- Unoccupied - 17
- Vacant- Unocc. - 7
- Vacant-Occup. - 9
In 2023 they responded to:
- Occupied - 226
- Unoccupied - 110
- Vacant- Unocc. - 40
- Vacant-Occup. - 49
The city says they are working to finalize the demolition bids for this year.
They hope to have 15 to 20 vacant properties torn down by the end of this month.
Residents should report unsafe conditions at vacant structures to the Mayor's Action Center usingRequestIndy [request.indy.gov].
If the property is occupied, they should contact the Marion County Public Health Department/Health and Hospital Corporation.
