NORTH VERNON — A North Vernon man was pronounced dead shortly after fire crews removed him from a smoke-filled apartment early Wednesday morning.
Jennings County coroner Alden Rudicel said the man, Bruce Allen Beare, 52, died of smoke inhalation and thermal burns from what appeared to be an accidental fire inside his home.
Fire Chief Mike Cole said Beare appeared to be in cardiac arrest due to smoke inhalation when North Vernon fire crews found him on the floor of unit 215 of Lincoln Place Apartments, 934 Veterans Drive. Cole said the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Emergency responders including North Vernon police, NVFD and the Jennings County Sheriff’s Department responded to an emergency call at the apartment complex at about 3:40 a.m. Wednesday.
Cole said Beare was removed from the apartment and emergency medical services paramedics transported him to St. Vincent Jennings Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:30 a.m.
The fire was confined to the victim’s unit, Cole said, and was quickly contained. No other residents of the apartment complex required relocation, and residents were permitted to return to their units after the smoke cleared.
Fire crews from Vernon Township, Spencer Township and Geneva Township responded to provide mutual aid, Cole said.
