A 6-year-old girl and a man died in a house fire Tuesday morning in northwest Indiana.
The fire broke out about 4:45 a.m. in the 500 block of Maryland Street in Gary, according to Gary Fire Dept. Deputy Chief Mark Everette.
Firefighters found the child’s grandmother outside, who indicated that two others were still in the first level of the two-story home, he said.
Crews battled heavy smoke and flames, and entered the rear of the home, Everette said. Firefighters retrieved the girl from the living room and began life-saving efforts, but she later died.
She was identified as Ciara Brown, according to the Lake County coroner’s office.
A man found in a bedroom on the first floor died at the scene, Everette said. The coroner’s office identified him as 30-year-old Dennis Liggins.
The grandmother was flown to a Chicago hospital for treatment of severe respiratory distress, Everette said.
The residents of the second floor of the duplex had safely evacuated before firefighters arrived, Everette said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
