Large fire engulfs two homes

BRISTOL, Ind. -- Two houses caught fire Monday afternoon with five different agencies on scene, working to control the flames.

As of now, no injuries have been reported.

Firefighters were out for over five hours trying to battle the blaze.

It’s not exactly clear how this fire started, but residents present say one of the houses that went up in flames had some historical significance.

Billowing smoke filled the air as firefighters tried to put out a large house fire in the 100 block of East Vistula Street.

The call came in just after 2 p.m. Monday, with a nearby resident saying she heard the sirens of firetrucks, saw smoke, and came to the scene to find this devastation.

“And I looked out the window, and all I saw was huge billowing smoke, so I called a couple neighbors, and we all came down here to see what was going on," said Kathy Burke.

That fire jumped next-door to the neighboring brown house, with firefighters using high powered hoses to try to control the flames.

Officials say that both homes in the fire were residential and unoccupied, the brown house being owned by the City of Bristol.

Another onlooker, Diane Smith, says the purple home used to be a grocery store called Kings Grocery where she still holds many memories.

“I have very fond memories, there was a wonderful, beautiful apartment upstairs and I'm so sad to see this happen to this structure,” said Smith.