By David Slone,
Times-Union

SYRACUSE — Three firefighters and the homeowner were injured in a house fire that started late Wednesday night and went into Thursday morning.

Turkey Creek Fire Territory Chief Quinn Hunter said the initial call came in at 11:25 p.m. Wednesday for a structure fire at 726 E. Northshore Drive, Syracuse. When they arrived on scene, the fire was about 75% involved.

County records indicate the home is owned by Richard A. Eyer.

“We had three firefighters injured. One had an exterior piece of the structure that fell on him when he was operating outside, and then we had two firefighters - there was a floor collapse from the second floor to the first that trapped them momentarily after it fell on them,” Hunter stated. “They were extricated out and basically all three of those people went to the hospital at the same time.”

As of about 11:30 a.m. Thursday, he said they were all OK.

Hunter said the fire department did not transport the homeowner or anything of that nature. “That all happened separately.”

According to a news release from the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office, the KCSO assisted the Syracuse Police Department and the Turkey Creek Fire Territory with the fire. While firefighters were working to contain the fire, law enforcement officers were advised a white Chevy Impala had fled the scene and the vehicle was also on fire. KCSO deputies, along with North Webster Police Department, located the vehicle and initiated a low-speed pursuit that lasted approximately 4 minutes before the vehicle stopped at the public access site on Medusa Street in Syracuse.

Deputies made contact with the driver, Eyer, 71, of Syracuse, and saw he was suffering from severe burns. EMS personnel were requested to the scene to provide medical treatment. Eyer was taken by Lutheran Air to Lutheran Hospital before later being transferred to a burn unit in Indianapolis for further treatment of his injuries, the release states.

Investigators later determined Eyer was the owner of the Northshore Drive residence. The KCSO is also investigating Eyer on suspicion of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, the release states.

Hunter said the fire was deemed under control several hours later after it began, but firefighters remained on scene to attempt to extinguish hot spots before an excavator had to be called in to assist.

“It was originally a one-story residence that had been added on to several times, so there were a lot of void spaces and the second floor was unstable, so we really didn’t have access to the second floor, outside of our aerial, and we just couldn’t reach void spaces to put it out. It wasn’t actively burning, but it would have been soon enough had we not been able to do something,” Hunter explained.

The excavator basically brought the home down on Thursday morning.

While the Eyer home is a total loss, Hunter said, “That home was almost 4,000 square feet, and it sat really close to two other residences. It was really advanced upon our arrival, and even with everything that happened, there was no significant damage at all to any other structures, which is pretty extraordinary in a circumstance like that. So the guys did a really good job. The guys did a really good job of attacking the fire and not letting it spread to other occupancies.”

Along with the Turkey Creek Fire Territory, responding to the scene were Tippecanoe Township Fire Territory, Milford Fire Department, Benton Fire Department and Clinton Township Fire Territory. Hunter estimated about 35 firefighters were on scene.

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