The body of Thomas Haskins was a day away from being cremated – and his closest kin didn’t even know he was dead.A Kosciusko County sheriff’s deputy ran into a burning two-story house Sunday to rescue an apparently suicidal man.
Deputies with the sheriff’s department along with a crew from the Leesburg Fire Department were called to a home at 1309 Chapman Lake Drive in Warsaw about 11:15 a.m., according to police.
An off-duty sheriff’s deputy who lives three miles from the home had already arrived by that time, police said.
The deputy said when he arrived at the home a man was standing in the doorway. The man then challenged the deputy to “come and get him,” police said, before running up the stairs and into the heart of the fire.
The man collapsed because of the fire and smoke and was dragged out of the home by the deputy. There, the man became combative with police and rescue workers, police said.
The man later admitted that he wanted to commit suicide, and police suspect he may have started the fire.
The man has not been arrested, and no charges have been filed, according to police.
