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Man killed in Westside house fire identified

Madeline Buckley
madeline.buckley@indystar.com
Investigators identified the man killed in a May 27 fire as 51-year-old Stacy Hudson.

Updated Friday, May 29:

Investigators have identified the victim in Wednesday's house fire as Stacy Hudson, 51, according to Rita Reith, a spokeswoman for the Indianapolis Fire Department.

Reith said the investigation into the cause of the fire remains ongoing.

Earlier story from May 27: Man killed in Westside house fire

Carol Cooper was sitting on her mother-in-law's porch around 9 a.m. Wednesday morning when she said all of a sudden, a frightening "whoosh" of flames enveloped the porch of her next-door neighbor's home.

One person died in a house fire Wednesday, May 27, 2015, in the 1200 block of Belleview Place.

The Westside home caught fire, killing a 51-year-old man, and slightly injuring a 38-year-old man, fire officials said.

Moments before, Cooper said she smelled something burning near the home in the 1200 block of Belleview Place. But she said she thought it was just someone burning leaves.

"I was afraid," Cooper said, noting that the flames were perilously close to her mother-in-law's home.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police homicide detectives and Indianapolis Fire Department arson investigators were on scene investigating Wednesday, as is procedure for any fatal fire.

Indianapolis Fire Dept. Capt. Rita Reith said investigators have not yet determined a cause of the fire.

The 51-year-old man died after firefighters rescued him from the home, Reith said.

The younger man was already outside of the home when fire crews arrived, she said. Investigators don't yet know how the two men are connected.

The man's identity has not yet been released.

The 38-year-old man had some sort of cut, as he left a trail of blood on the sidewalk.

Officials evacuated a preschool across the street from the home that caught fire. Crews took control of the blaze in about 15 minutes, Reith said.

Indianapolis Fire Department crews responded to a house fire on Belleview Place on the Westside of Indianapolis Wednesday, May 27, 2015.

Call Star reporter Madeline Buckley at (317) 444-6083. Follow her on Twitter: @Mabuckley88.