Indiana Fire Marshal Office investigates a handful of local fires

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - The State Fire Marshal Office is investigating a handful of fires that hit the viewing area last week and this weekend. Since Thursday morning there have been seven fires. Four of those were fatal.

Of the seven fires in three days three of them have determined causes.

It all started Thursday morning on County Road 350 East in Lafayette. A house fire killed 31-year-old Shannon Servies.

Lafayette firefighters believe it was a faulty or loose outlet on an electric stove that caused the fire.

A Thursday afternoon fire in Battle Ground was caused by a kerosene heater.

Then that night on Navarre Court in Lafayette investigators believe either a cigarette or cigar was not properly put out. That caused a fire that killed Jay Patterson and his dog.

A fatal fire in Dayton Thursday night, a Fowler house fire that destroyed a family of four's home Friday night, a fire in Mulberry Saturday morning which killed a 7 year old, and a Saturday night Morocco grocery store fire - all remain under investigation.

"We want to make sure people are reminded about fire safety," Lafayette Fire Inspector Todd Trent said. "We need to make sure we get that across. We've lost too many lives at this time."

Firefighters said two of the fires in Tippecanoe County happened in homes without smoke detectors. With the new year upon us Trent recommends double checking your smoke detectors to keep you safe in 2013.

"We need to make sure we change the battery," Trent said. "While you do that check around the door of the battery to make sure the born on date of the smoke detector is within ten years."

Firefighters returned Monday to the scene of this weekend's fires in Mulberry and Morocco. The State Fire Marshal has been called in to help investigate those as well as the fire on 350 East and in Dayton.

The Lafayette Fire Department and other emergency agencies in the county are planning a news conference Friday morning. Firefighters said they want to get across that many fires are caused by human error, and how important fire safety really is.