Sixteen families displaced after apartment fire in Grand Blanc Township
By Rayvin Bleu
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GRAND BLANC, Michigan (WNEM) — Multiple residents in Grand Blanc Township were displaced Tuesday afternoon after a fire broke out in their apartment building.
“I was just like a fire? I mean, it was just like I can’t even like wrap — what do you mean a fire?” says displaced resident Julie Slade.
Firefighters from several departments responded to the The Fairways at Woodfield apartments around 2:30 pm, after a passerby reported seeing flames to 911. When first responders arrived on the scene, they could see flames coming from the roof line.
“My husband was in the shower. I was just getting up ‘cause I’m a late sleeper and someone banged on the door, some young girl, and said you need to get out there’s a fire,” says Shawn Bucham, another resident displaced by the fire.
The three-alarm fire started in the back of the building and quickly spread though the common attic space. Some family pets were still in the building, but were all rescued by firefighters.
Grand Blanc Township Fire Chief Robert Burdette says there were some challenges to dealing with this fire.
“The volume of fire and time of day, unfortunately, everybody knows in the county it’s quite hard to get staff. So, we had a little bit of time for firefighters responding, although our squads were here within eight minutes of the initial call and we started attacking the fire right away,” says Burdette.
Thankfully, no residents, pets or firefighters were injured. Chief Burdette says 16 units were damaged by either fire, smoke or water.
“I just re-did my kitchen with fresh paint and everything. It’s just like, ‘Oh my god’,” says Slade.
“All my gifts are in there and I don’t know if they’re any good anymore,” says Bucham.
The cause of the fire is not yet known.
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