Dave Bangert and Ron Wilkins | Journal & Courier

Travis Oliver, For the Journal & Courier

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Dave Ivey and Beth Hall dropped off a moving truck at their new home in the 3600 block of Tesla Drive, then went to close on the house. They returned to a raging inferno that destroyed five house and damaged theirs.

“I’m still shaking,” Hall said, standing in her new garage and looking at the charred remains of the houses across the street.

“I feel so incredibly lucky, and yet my heart breaks for our neighbors I haven’t even met yet,” she said.

Reader-submitted video by Bethany VanFossen, Reader-submitted video by Bethany VanFossen

Ivey and Hall noticed the smoke in the western sky after they closed on the house.

“You can see this from the title company all the way on the other side of Lafayette," Ivey said.

Others reported smoke visible from as far away as New Richmond and Colfax to the south.

Ivey and Hall weren't the only ones who closed on a new home in the block on Friday.

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Lindberg Village fire in West Lafayette

Margie Robertson owned 3681 Tesla Drive just an hour before the fire, but she closed on the sale Friday afternoon.

“I call that the epicenter because that’s where they said it started,” said Robertson, who didn't explain who she meant by "they."

She said the new owner dropped of a load of his belongings at the house she just sold him and he went back for another load. The block was consumed by flames before he returned, Robertson said.

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Ed Ward, fire chief for the Wabash Township Fire Department, said they received the call at 3:37 p.m. Friday and arrived to find several homes fully engulfed in flames.

They knocked it down by 5 p.m., but they do not know how the fire started, Ward said.

One person was home when the fire started, Ward said.

That person was Scott Lane's 13-year-old son, Lane said.

“I work for the sheriff’s department, and of course, I was getting calls from everybody that’s down here," Lane said. "I tried to get here as fast as I could.

“Before that, I was getting calls from my son," Lane said. "He was the only one here. Luckily, a guy came down and got him out because I don’t think he even knew.”

Lanes' two-story house was destroyed in the fire.

“I just am glad I got my family out," Lane said. "That’s all I care. Everything else is material stuff.”

West Lafayette Fire Chief Tim Heath said no one was injured in the fires, and all pets involved were rescued.

One firefighter was taken to the hospital to be treated for heat exhaustion, Heath and Ward said. The firefighter is going to be OK, Ward said.

“I just want to know how it happened," Lane said.

The scene is being turned over to Indiana State Fire Marshal investigators to determine that, Ward said.

#breaking Multiple houses destroyed in structure fire on Tesla drive in West Lafayette. pic.twitter.com/N1ZZJPBPaC — Nikos Frazier (@nikosfrazier) July 12, 2019

#BREAKING — David Ivey and Beth Hall just closed on this house Friday afternoon and come home to find their home damaged from multi house fire across the street. @jconline pic.twitter.com/zJOTRoJ7ke — Ron Wilkins (@RonWilkins2) July 12, 2019

Firefighters from West Lafayette, Wabash Township, Otterbein, Purdue and Battle Ground, as well as personnel from Tippecanoe Emergency Management Agency, West Lafayette police and the Tippecanoe ounty Sheriff's Office and the Indiana Fire Marshal's office were on scene Friday.