In Odon, Indiana on June 21 of 1940 William Hackler had eaten breakfast and was getting ready for what he believed would be a normal day. Mr. Hackler and his family were a farming family, and as William headed out to the barn, he smelled smoke back toward the main house, and ran back to it following the smoky smell up to the bedroom. There, he and his family would find a fire, and oddly only a single strip of wallpaper had been burning. Concerned that a fire could be inside the wall, they notified the local fire department who broke into the wall and found nothing.
It was simply as if the wallpaper burned, but it had no point of origin nor did it spread.
It was odd that a fire had broken out to say the least, especially since the Hackler Family didn’t have electricity in the house. Mr. Hackler thanked the firemen; they went on their way and Mr. Hackler was somewhat satisfied since the fire only caused minimal damage. However, things would only get stranger and perplexing from here.
As the firemen were venturing back, as soon as they reached town another fire would break out. This time, Mr. Hackler’s wife, Minnie, would find a fire in one of the guest bedrooms. Strangely, the fire seemingly was burning inside the mattress with smoke coming out of it and yet again there was no logical explanation as to why the fire started. The firemen would arrive and extinguish the fire.
As the day progressed, these spontaneous fires would pop up all over the house. Astonished and perplexed firemen would watch in amazement as a fire would abruptly start with no source of apparent ignition. As the day went on, the number of fires grew, and the local fire department had to call in surrounding fire departments to help extinguish the mysterious fires. All in all, there were around 28 unexplained fires and 100 fireman that witnessed the event.
Neighbors too came over and saw the strange event. On one occasion several witnesses saw the curtains spontaneously combust. At the same time another pair of curtains in the same room on another wall burst into flames. The curtains burned but nothing else in the surrounding area caught fire.
One other strange event concerned a book. Mysteriously a book caught on fire from the inside and only the book itself would burn. This was witnessed by one of the firefighters. He would see the book on the shelf emitting a thick smoke. When he went to open it, the inside was burning.
As described by one of the witnesses later, it appeared as if someone was lighting matches around the house.
The events would last for the rest of the day, around 13 hours total. The fires stopped about an hour before midnight and the frightened family would sleep outside that night.
(Read About the Terrifying Thornton-Heath Poltergeist here)
There has never been explanation as to what caused the fires. The fire dept said it was the most perplexing case they had ever seen. The fire could not have been electrical in nature.
There was no lighting that day and the fire dept also ruled out atmospheric pressure. The fires were isolated and for the most part small. Some of the ignitions of the fires were witnessed firsthand while others were not. Of those that were witnessed that seemed to begin spontaneously, they were described as terrifying and bazaar.
Since no magical explanation has been put forth to describe the event that occurred, some have suggested it was a poltergeist.
Before we dive into this possibility, it’s important to remember that the family of 5 had lived there for 10 years before this event occurred. During that time no odd events or paranormal activity was reported.
The Heckler house though was not 10 years old though, and the house dates back to the civil war. The home itself is a large two-story home surrounded by large pine trees. It is around four miles northwest of Odon and shortly off the main road.
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Several past residents raise red flags as far as being the culprit, but perhaps the most likely are the Ketcham’s.
Marshall Ketcham moved into the area from Tennessee in the 1840’s and married Margert Sedgerwood. They had several children. Marshall himself would die in 1899 but it’s reported that 5 members of his family died in 1880 due to typhus, sometimes also called burning fever.
Many believe that Marchall watched his family suffer through the burning high fevers and suffered for years after their deaths. Did Marshall become embittered after their deaths with only thoughts of his loved one’s suffering? Did this cause him to be unable to move on and the fires were some sort of physical manifestation from his pain?
Interestingly the fires took place exactly 50 years after the 5 people in the Ketcham family died. Its unknown on what date or dates the family member died, but perhaps the hot summer months were most painful for his family.
One other intriguing thought is that paranormal activity was happening, but the family was oblivious to it. It’s known that poltergeist hauntings tend to start small, and activity starts to pick up drastically. The family never reported anything before the event, but it’s possible with a crowded house it just went unnoticed.
While many believe that this event was caused by the supernatural, there are several other theories as well.
One concerns spontaneous combustion and the science behind it. Spontaneous combustion can occur when a substance with a relatively low ignition temperature begins to release heat. One material known to do this is hay. Another example is a pile of oily rags stored in a bucket. As oxygen from the air hits the rags, it can slowly raise their internal temperature high enough to ignite the oil. We clearly know that spontaneous combustion happens, but we still don’t know why it happens.
Some theorize electromagnetism can play a role.
While this might be a possibility that can’t be ruled out, it’s tough to imagine that so many broke out over a 13-hour period. Some might say it was a strange weather phenomenon that was causing the ignition, but again the fire appeared to behave strangely, burning isolated things rather than spreading.
Another theory is that this event was simply a prank. It’s possible since many of the ignition of the fires were not directly seen, perhaps one of the kids was setting things on fire when no one was looking. It would explain in part the isolated fires, but this theory doesn’t explain the strange behavior of the fires. There could have been chemicals put in certain areas to prevent burning, but it seems extremely unlikely a child would have the knowledge or even the materials to do this. In addition, what would be his/her motivation? The parent also could probably be ruled out as it doesn’t make much sense that they would want to burn down their own home.
This is evident by what the Hacklers did after the event. They tore down the home and built a new home on the property with the reclaimed wood from the home. In it, they would never experience any strange activity or fires again.
To date the cause of this event is unknown and this remains one of Indiana’s most famous unexplained events.
