Fire Crews Battle Blaze at Perry County United Way Building

Fire gutted the Perry County United Way's building on State Road 37 in Tell City on the evening of March 29, leaving the nonprofit without a headquarters and wiping out the Angel Store's entire inventory, which serves roughly 300 county families each season.

Tell City firefighters battled flames and heavy smoke throughout the structure as SR 37 was shut down in both directions for hours. A large portion of the roof collapsed during the blaze, and crews remained on scene extinguishing hotspots long after the initial response. The complex also housed Gypsy's Trunk Thrift Shop, the Perry County News, the Spencer County Journal-Democrat and a therapy office. All tenants sustained losses; the structure was declared a total loss.

Executive Director Lacy Dutschke acknowledged the toll while centering the organization's response on the families it serves. "We just want to make sure our families understand that we are still going to take care of them," Dutschke said. "It's a huge loss for us but we're more worried about the community and the families that we serve right now."

The cause of the fire remained under investigation as of this week, with fire officials conducting a formal cause-and-origin assessment at the site.

The United Way functions as a coordination hub for food pantry referrals, volunteer mobilization, housing assistance and utility aid across Perry County, serving communities from Tell City to Cannelton and Troy. With its building gone, the organization shifted to remote operations while leadership worked to secure temporary space and notify partner agencies that rely on the facility for client intake, meetings and storage.

Cause-and-origin investigators were expected on site in the days following the blaze; community donations, officials said, began arriving almost immediately after the fire was extinguished.