Residents are safe and first responders are no doubt tired after a late night in White County. Carmi Fire Chief Daniel Ballard says the department was called to Carmi Manor just after a quarter after 8pm Wednesday due to smoke filling the front corridor. Once on scene, Ballard says there was no visual fire and staff had already begun evacuation efforts. Because they were unable to locate the source, the cause remains undetermined though it’s possible it was electric in nature. For the safety of residents, they were taken to Ridgway and Ballard says Carmi-White County Unit 5 school buses were called in to help with transport due to the heat. A couple of the 43 residents were taken by ambulance to Hamilton Memorial Hospital just due to the effects of the outdoor heat and as a precautionary measure. Wabash Senior Living also offered assistance Ballard says.
Later Wednesday, crews were called again to the Little Wabash River after a call came in to law enforcement that someone was on the river and had lost the motor on their boat. Beyond that, the relative of the individual on the river wasn’t able to reach that person by phone and it wasn’t known if it was due to poor cell service or something more dire. That prompted emergency responders to deploy boats for a search. Officials also called in a pair of watercraft from Gallatin County. Luckily, the two individuals were located and brought to safety.