Chesterton Fire Department investigators are calling the fire which
destroyed the old Olson farmhouse earlier this month “suspicious.”
Anyone with information about the fire is asked to call the CFD at 926-7162
or the Chesterton Police Department at 926-1136.
If you wish to remain anonymous—and be eligible for a reward of up to
$1,000—call WeTip at (800) 782-7463.
At 12:53 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2, the CFD and multiple agencies were
dispatched to the Olson farmhouse after someone—it’s unclear who—reported a
fire there. On the CFD’s arrival, the fire had already spread through the
roof on the farmhouse’s back side. No one was injured in the blaze but it
took 16,000 gallons of water to extinguish it.
Fire Chief Mike Orlich told the Chesterton Tribune today that both
natural-gas and electric service to the vacant house, located at the
terminus of East Porter Ave. off 250E, had been disconnected.
The Portage Fire Department’s K-9 unit brought to the scene did alert to
unspecified evidence, which investigators collected and are having
processed, Orlich said.
The house has long been vacant and investigators did find indications of
previous trespassers on the property, Orlich added.
The Olson farm property is part of the 132 acres annexed by the Town Council
in 2007 and purchased by “Olson Farms LLC.” In 2008 the Advisory Plan
Commission granted Olson Farm LCC primary plat for the Sand Creek Farms
subdivision, a proposed 362-home development which would be, if built out,
the town’s largest subdivision.
The Olson farmhouse is slated eventually for demolition and the CPD has
conducted training exercises there, with the CFD granted the use of the
property for its own training as well, Orlich noted.
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