Woman catches fire, dies of burn injuries

DAYTON, Ind. (WLFI) - A Dayton woman was pronounced dead late Tuesday night after she was severely burned in a house fire.

Emergency crews responded to a house fire at 725 Cagles Mill Drive at about 11:40 Tuesday morning.

Several neighbors and people driving by heard screaming and saw flames coming from the home when they helped to stop 63-year-old Dorothy Sollers. 

Authorities said she was transported in critical condition to IU Health Arnett Hospital in Lafayette and then transferred to Wishard Hospital in Indianapolis, where she later died.

Witnesses describe Tuesday's situation as horrifying.

"It's the most horrible thing I've ever seen," Dayton resident Kyla Perkins said. "I was literally watching somebody burn to death in front of me and I couldn't do anything about it. I just went into shock and I was trying to get her out."

"It's the worst thing I've ever seen," Dayton resident Shawn Salazar said. "It was movie type. It was pretty bad. I was out back letting the dog out and saw the smoke. A neighbor yelled for help so I was calling 911 along with my neighbor and we ran over there."

Dayton resident Keith Henderson was driving by the house when he also heard screaming and saw what was going on. He said he immediately pulled over and rushed to help. 

"I was on my way home from work and I saw the house was on fire and the women were yelling for me to come help," Henderson said. "She was badly burned and halfway out the door. I've never seen anything like that. It was so scary."

The Tippecanoe County Arson Task Force and the Indiana State Fire Marshal are assisting in the investigation. 

Tippecanoe County Sheriff Tracy Brown said the cause of the fire remains under investigation, but no obvious signs of an intentionally set fire have been located.