At approximately 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, officers with the Jennings County Sheriff’s Department responded to a fully involved house fire in northern Columbia Township.

Shortly after deputies and fire personnel arrived at the scene at 10200 N. County Road 500E, North Vernon, investigators with the department contacted the Indiana State Fire Marshal’s Office to lead the investigation into the cause of the house fire.

At this time, three fatalities have been confirmed.

Also, less than 24 hours before the fatal fire, another house erupted into flames just a half-mile away. The people in that home were able to make it out safely.

Additional information will be released by the Indiana State Fire Marshal’s Office when it becomes available, police said.