The 28 fires of Odon

One day in 1940, William and Minnie Hackler’s house inexplicably caught on fire 28 times

After 78 years, the Hackler house fires remain unexplained. But the true background narrative of this Odon, Indiana-based phenomenon, where 28 fires broke out in one day at a single home, is much more complex than the breathless and factually incorrect cookie-cutter accounts splayed across numerous badly-designed paranormal web sites.

“In the Town of Odon, we are defined less by boundaries on a map than by the sense of shared values our residents hold dear,” states the town website. “Small town values, guided growth, preservation of historical, cultural, and natural heritage are just a few of the core principles that make the Town of Odon a wonderful place to call home.”

The Hackler family may have disagreed after the events of June 21, 1940.

Sad history

William and Minnie Hackler and their five children William Jr., Dorothy, Garland, Dale and Virginia, lived as a farming family in a large older two-story home surrounded by large pine trees about 100 yards off a main road four miles northwest of Odon.

The two-story frame house was built just after the Civil War by an early Daviess County settler named Marshall (or Marshel)…