Fatal fire investigations continue
One involves July 4 fire near Romney. The other has FBI looking into 2016 Flora arson that killed four sisters. Plus, date set in Lafayette’s backyard chicken discussion. Next steps for SK hynix in WL
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STATE FIRE MARSHAL INVESTIGATING FATAL JULY 4 FIRE NEAR ROMNEY
An investigation continued Monday into a fatal fire south Romney that started the night of July 4.
Firefighters from five departments responded at 10:16 p.m. Friday to a house in the 13000 block of U.S. 231 South to find a garage on fire, Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Office reported. The fire spread to the house shortly afterward, according to the sheriff’s office.
One person was killed. The Tippecanoe County coroner reported Monday morning that the person killed was a woman in her 30s. The coroner did not immediately release her name, pending positive identification.
The coroner ruled the preliminary manner of death to be an accident, with the cause being inhalation of products of combustion and thermal injuries.
Scott Provo, 46, of Tippecanoe County, had serious injuries from the fire and was flown to Eskenazi Hospital in Indianapolis by an IU Health Lifeline helicopter, according to the sheriff’s office.
Police reported that no foul play was suspected in the fire.
Investigators from the state fire marshal’s office were not immediately available to confirm a suspected cause of the fire.
J&C reporter Ron Wilkins had more from Bill Dearing, deputy Indiana state fire marshal, who said the fire started when buckets of fireworks stored inside the garage accidentally ignited. Here are more details from the J&C: “Woman killed in fireworks accident south of Romney.”
FBI REVISITS SCENE OF UNSOLVED FLORA ARSON THAT KILLED 4 SISTERS IN 2016
Investigators from the FBI were expected to be in Flora, starting today, to look again for clues into the unsolved 2016 arson that killed four young sisters, the FBI’s Indianapolis office reported Monday.
Sisters Keyana Davis, 11, Keyara Phillips, 9, Kerriele McDonald, 7, and Kionnie Welch, 5, died Nov. 21, 2016, when the house they were in burned. Investigators determined the fire was arson. No one has been charged with the crime.
An FBI spokesperson told WTHR that the team in Flora is comprised of investigators who are new to this investigation and are reviewing the case from a fresh perspective. WTHR reported that the FBI had opened its own investigation after receiving reports related to the arson while working alongside Indiana State Police to offer additional resources.
"Even if you have already been interviewed or believe the information you are in possession of has already been provided, please share this again,” the FBI office said in a release Monday. “Investigators will review all information provided by the community. Something you remember could help, even if it seems small. If you saw, heard, or were told something back then – or have received information since – please share it with us.”
The house in Flora, 25 miles northeast of Lafayette, was taken down in October 2023. The Indiana State Police continues to offer a $5,000 reward for information about the crime.
The FBI said it also was taking tips at tips.fbi.gov or at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324).
A FEW CITY COUNCIL NOTES ON BOTH SIDES OF THE RIVER
UPDATE: LAFAYETTE’S BACKYARD CHICKEN PROPOSAL ON HOLD ANOTHER MONTH: Not on the agenda for tonight’s Lafayette City Council monthly meeting: Backyard chickens.
But city council members will meet at noon Monday, July 21, on the second floor of Lafayette City Hall, 20 N. Sixth St., to discuss a proposed ordinance that would allow residents to keep hens in their yards.
According to a meeting notice posted late last week, no formal action will come during that meeting. And there will not be time for public comments during the session
Last week, Eileen Hession Weiss, a city council member who this spring held a series of meetings on a proposal that would allow residents to keep hens, told Based in Lafayette that at least one council member would not be at tonight’s monthly meeting “and we wanted all of the council members to be able to vote on this ordinance.”
“Since it is such a public issue, we wanted to make sure that everyone's concerns or questions are addressed before they have to take a final vote,” Hession Weiss told BiL last week.
A draft proposal of an ordinance presented in April would allow households to have up to five hens, but no roosters, for noncommercial use. It also laid out proposed requirements about chicken coops, care and maintenance of the birds and their surroundings, and a fine structure for violations.
The current Lafayette City Code prohibits keeping or breeding a long list of livestock in city limits, including “a horse, goat, pony, mule, donkey, jackass, chicken, peacock, turkey, cow, llama or other livestock.” The city code says those restrictions do not apply to zoos, “bona fide circuses or carnivals.”
A draft of the proposed Lafayette ordinance offered these provisions:
Chickens must be housed in a secure coop and pen.
The coop must be at least 18 inches high and provide at least one-square-foot per chicken.
The pen must provide at least two-square-feet per chicken and be predator-proof.
Structures must be at least 20 feet from any home and 10 feet from property lines.
Coops would need to be predator-proof with a fence that goes no more than six feet off the ground.
Coops would be restricted to backyards.
Owners would be required to operate “in such a manner to not constitute a public nuisance or disturb neighboring residents due to noise, odor or damage.”
Owners also would be required to provide access to fresh water and food for chickens and to isolate chickens that are sick or diseased.
Violations of the ordinance, if passed, would bring fines of up to $250 per day.
The proposed ordinance said that if passed, it would not override homeowners association rules, private restrictive covenants or deed restrictions that regulate chicken coops in some neighborhoods.
A pair of public sessions this spring were dominated by fans of the idea, including support from the city’s animal control officers. But during one of those sessions Thursday – one dominated by fans of having chickens out back – several city council members indicated they still had questions about whether rewritten city code should address additional questions about care of the birds, how to handle abandoning chickens by people whose initial excitement wanes once they get into the hobby and whether to allow backyard butchering when a hen’s egg-laying days are done.
The earliest the backyard chicken ordinance could go on a council agenda now is Aug. 4.
WEST LAFAYETTE CITY COUNCIL SET TO TAKE UP SAFE ZONE MEASURE FOR TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY: A proposal designed to be a statement that West Lafayette backs members of the community who are transgender will go before the city council this evening. The resolution aims “to protect individuals seeking gender affirming health care” and comes a month after members and allies of the LGTBQ community lobbied the city council to make West Lafayette a sort of safe zone. To read the proposed resolution: Here’s a link. For more, this is from a BiL edition last week:
Also facing the West Lafayette City Council: Council members will consider its role in some technical matters after the city restarted a process that would clear the way for hundreds of millions of dollars in state incentives for SK hynix’s $3.87 billion semiconductor facility, after the site shifted to 121 acres north of Kalberer Road, between Yeager Road and County Road 50 West. It involves maps of tax increment financing districts, the Indiana Economic Development Corp.’s offer of hundreds of millions of dollars in Innovation Development District tax rebates to the South Korean company and a series of approvals needed to line things up – even as a pair of lawsuits filed by nearby residents challenge a rezoning decision in May to accommodate SK hynix’s plans. For more, here’s a look at the situation when the West Lafayette Redevelopment Commission got things rolling in May:
The city council also is scheduled to hold a final vote on proposed local limits on metals and other pollutants heading to the West Lafayette wastewater treatment plant, ahead of the arrival of the SK hynix facility, the city’s first major industrial customer. The plan received unanimous approval on a first vote in June, but not until after protest from residents still frustrated by the location of the advanced packaging facility. Here’s more from that June meeting: “With new West Lafayette industrial wastewater limits coming, neighbors vent on unknowns of SK hynix plans that inspired them.”
The West Lafayette City council will meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 7, at city hall, 222 N. Chauncey Ave.
Thanks, again, for support for this edition from MatchBOX Studios. Sixth & South, MatchBOX Studios’ annual fundraising event, returns 7-11 p.m. Friday, July 11, inside MatchBOX and on Sixth Street from South to Alabama streets. Get your tickets and all of the event details at mbx.studio/sixthsouth
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