PORTAGE | A 32-year-old man was severely burned Thursday night in a mobile home fire in the 300 block of Jacobs Place in the Glenwood Springs mobile home park.

The man, whose name is withheld until family members are notified, suffered severe burns to the upper part of his body, police and fire officials said.

Portage firefighters answered a 6:17 p.m. call and asked for a helicopter on the way, according to a news release from the Fire Department.

They arrived to find the mobile home fully ablaze. The burned man was at a neighbor's home. Firefighters took the man to Porter Portage Hospital Campus for pickup by Medflight helicopter. He was flown to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill.

It took firefighters about 30 minutes to bring the fire under control. The home and contents were a loss.

Due to the rapid spread and other conditions of the fire, Indiana State Police Meth Lab technicians were called to assist in the investigation. They determined there was no methamphetamine activity at the home, the Fire Department said.

Cause of the blaze is still being investigated.

Mike Prusynski lives across the street from the mobile home and said there was little firefighters could do to save the structure.

"It was engulfed when they got here. It was blazing," he said. "It went up quick."

Heat from the flames melted the vinyl siding off a neighboring mobile home as thick white smoke billowed from the residence.

George Roberts lives near the fire scene and had a fire at his residence last year. He was on his way back from a convenience store when he saw the flames shooting into the air.

"I saw the flames, and I came through. I thought it was mine," Roberts said.

Roberts went to a mobile home next door and helped a family get out.

Crews from the South Haven, Ogden Dunes and Burns Harbor fire departments assisted in battling the fire and covering Portage's calls during the fire.