Ballard said from the area. Beyond the burning homes there was wider damage in the neighborhood: windows shattered in nearby homes, walls caved in and garage doors were knocked off their hinges. Residents were told to evacuate to a nearby elementary school and people could be seen shivering in white blankets handed out to them as they moved off. Ballard said investigators will have to see what they find in coming days. "We're going to need some comforting in the next few days," he said. Earlier, Capt. Rita Burris with the Indianapolis Fire Department told The Associated Press that the scene looked like something out of a war zone. "It's really messy," she said soon after it began. She said by telephone that firefighters immediately began the work of containing the house fires.. She said there was preliminary information of injuries.