TRAIL CREEK — A woman who was pulled from a blaze that destroyed the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 75 early Thursday morning has died.
Vicky Cummings, 60, a bartender at the lodge for about 10 years, had been transferred from Franciscan Health to the University of Chicago Medical Center with burns to about 50 percent of her body and smoke inhalation, according to her brother, Mike Elkins, a retired 35-year member of the Michigan City Police Department.
Michigan City Police Chief Mark Swistek confirmed Cummings' death Thursday night. He offered condolences to the entire family on behalf of the Police Department and the FOP Lodge No. 75.
"This is not the way any of us wanted to start 2018," Swistek said.
About 3:30 a.m., Coolspring Township firefighter Mike Lusco and Andrew Belue from the Michigan City Fire Department entered a second floor window from a ladder and removed Cummings from her apartment above the FOP at 401 Johnson Road.
She lived there with Bob Ream, who jumped from the second-floor window prior to the rescue and called 911.
Swistek commended fire crews from several departments on a "great response" under extreme cold, harsh conditions and in retrieving Cummings from the burning building.
"All the emergency responders, they worked together so diligently to get her out of the fire, but unfortunately she succumbed to her injuries," Swistek said.
As of Thursday afternoon, Ream was in the intensive care unit at Franciscan Health with smoke inhalation and other injuries, Elkins said.
"He’s coherent and talking. They expect a full recovery," Elkins said.
At the beginning, firefighters had difficulty accessing enough water because of hydrants freezing up after being opened.
Coolspring Township Assistant Fire Chief Warren Smith said the problem was solved by tapping into two hydrants fed by larger mains less prone to freezing.
Nevertheless, Smith said the building still would have been destroyed because of how fast the flames spread through the old wooden structure.
"Once it started rolling, there was no stopping it," Smith said.
LaPorte County Police fire investigator Mike Raymer said the fire appears to have started on the main level.
He said Ream was awakened by smoke detectors and, before jumping out the window, tried waking up Cummings. He escaped down a stairway, but was driven back by intense heat rising up from the floor below.
Raymer also said the cause was not known, but they do not suspect foul play.
He said locating the source of the fire was made more difficult by the damage being so extensive.
"We may never know given the building is pretty much demolished," Raymer said.
Times staff writer Lauren Cross contributed to this report.
