By Stan Maddux
Chicago Sun Times
Copyright 2006 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
MICHIGAN CITY, Ind — Authorities Monday labeled a fatal Michigan City fire that killed four men Sunday as “very suspicious.”
A police dog detected an accelerant at several locations in the two-flat home occupied by workers from a Chinese restaurant, officials said.
They said it was too early in the investigation to know whether the four deceased men were in the country illegally or were part of a labor warehousing operation.
“I’d hate to speculate,” said Michigan City Police Chief Ben Neitzel at a news conference Monday.
Evidence of an accelerant was found near the back porch area where the blaze is believed to have started, officials said. There also was a flammable substance detected in the kitchen, state fire investigator Robert W. Dean said.
LaPorte County Chief Deputy Coroner John Sullivan said all of the deceased were found on the second floor.
An autopsy on two of the bodies determined cause of death to be smoke and soot inhalation. Details on autopsies on the two other victims were pending.
None of the bodies were located on beds, which could indicate they woke up and tried getting out but were quickly overcome, Sullivan said.
Two of the four men who perished have been identified, but their names were withheld, pending notification of relatives, Sullivan said.
HOUSED 12 OR MORE PEOPLE
The deceased included two Asian men and two Hispanic men, ranging in age from 18 to 30.
The fire engulfed the old and possibly overcrowded two-story wood-frame home on Russell Street, between U.S. 20 and the lakefront. According to investigators, there were no smoke detectors in the burned-out house that might have been occupied by a dozen or more people.