LOCAL 693
Residents escape from burning apartments; eight units damaged in Ann Arbor
Updated On: Sep 11, 2009

 

Residents escape from burning apartments; eight units damaged in Ann Arbor

by Art Aisnerl | The Ann Arbor News
Monday July 13, 2009, 10:55 AM

Shannon Duff and Tyler Ford, top left, look on as Ann Arbor Fire Department firefighter Tim Karolak, left, and Captain Tim Flack and clean up and give oxygen to the couple's two cats, Castor and Pollux. The animals were rescued from an apartment fire at the Meadowbrook Village apartment complex on Ann Arbor Saline Road Sunday night. Flack said the cats were found in a closet in the back of the apartment. The cats were scared, wet, covered in soot and suffering from a bit of smoke inhalation, but Flack said he thought they would recover.

All the residents of an Ann Arbor apartment complex safely escaped a fire that severely damaged their eight-unit building Sunday evening. The survivors included two cats found cowering in a closet in one of the burning apartments, officials said.

Residents of the Meadowbrook Village Apartments at 1515 Brookfield Drive, first called 911 upon seeing smoke coming from a first-floor porch and patio about 7 p.m., Ann Arbor Fire Marshal Kathleen Chamberlain said.

No one was hurt, which Chamberlain attributed to several residents who knocked on apartment doors and alerted people to the blaze.
It was still unclear this morning what caused the fire or where it started.

Witness reports indicated several boxes on a first-floor patio were burning and that the fire spread upward to the unit above on the northeast side of the building.

Residents in the two most-damaged units were not home at the time.
Chamberlain said firefighters found the cats in the closet of one of the two-bedroom units. Their owners returned to the scene and took them to an emergency veterinary clinic.

The fire spread quickly to the roof, but was stopped by fire walls. Neighboring units to the east were damaged from the heat but did not catch fire.

"Very hot fire and flames were being whipped around considerably because of the wind," Chamberlain said.

Fire damaged a portion of the Meadowbrook Village apartment complex on Ann Arbor-Saline Road Sunday night. Two cats were rescued from the fire, but no one was injured in the blaze, which gutted at least one apartment.

The Washtenaw County Chapter of the American Red Cross is assisting residents with housing.

Ypsilanti city and Pittsfield Township firefighters assisted at the scene.

Damage estimates were not available.

Art Aisner can be reached at aaisner@annarbornews.com or 734-994-6823.


-
Contact Info
Ann Arbor Firefighters Local 693

Ann Arbor, MI 48104
 

Top of Page image
Powered By UnionActive - Copyright © 2024. All Rights Reserved.