Firefighters battle blaze at Glencoe Hills Apartments in Pittsfield Township
Pittsfield Township firefighters keep watch over one of the apartment units at Glencoe Hills after bringing a fire under control Wednesday evening.
Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com
Residents were safely evacuated and several pets were rescued after fire spread through a building at Glencoe Hills Apartments in Pittsfield Township early Wednesday evening.
Pittsfield Township Fire Cmdr. Sean Gleason said residents were evacuated from 24 units of the building at 2248 Glencoe Hills Drive. Six of the units are uninhabitable, and the apartment complex management is assisting residents with housing, Gleason said.
The Washtenaw County Chapter of the American Red Cross also said it was assisting five families with food, clothing and shelter.
Washtenaw Avenue was closed for several hours but was reopened by 8:30 p.m.
The blaze started on the first floor at about 5:30 p.m. and spread through the second and third floors into the attic. Firefighters had to remove some of the soffit and siding to get to the fire in the attic, Gleason said.
Pittsfield Township firefighters were on the scene at Glencoe Hills until about 8 p.m.
Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com
Gleason said the cause of the fire does not appear to be suspicious. The department's fire investigator is on the scene trying to determine its origin, he said. Damage has been estimated at $40,000. Firefighters were on the scene until shortly before 8 p.m.
Residents of the affected apartments got out on their own, Gleason said, but firefighters carried out several dogs.
Pittsfield Township firefighters were assisted by units from Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township.
The apartment complex is located on the north side of Washtenaw Avenue east of Hogback Road.
A resident of a nearby apartment who would only identify himself as "Scott" said police knocked on his door about 6 p.m. and told his family to evacuate.
"We were just hoping that they would get it so it wouldn't spread and hoping everyone that was in there got out, and I think they did," he said. His apartment was not damaged by the fire.
Comments
Jennifer
Sun, Jan 2, 2011 : 8:44 p.m.
@WWC, someone IS looking for a dog, do you have contact info?
not a billy
Thu, Dec 30, 2010 : 3:19 p.m.
The crew that was boarding up was either the complex maintenance guys or one of the fire boardup companies that buy their way into favor (sporting event tickets, lunches, golf... lots of golf!) with the Fire Department brass. They usually start swarming around the fire scene after hearing about it on their scanners. We used to call it "ambulance chasing".
a2scio
Thu, Dec 30, 2010 : 1:41 p.m.
PS - Thank you Red Cross for helping 5 families with shelter, food and clothing.
Kristin Judge
Thu, Dec 30, 2010 : 12:10 p.m.
Thank you Pittsfield, Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township Fire Departments. The job you do is important to our community, and I am happy to pay my taxes to have you there for those who need your service.
Alex
Thu, Dec 30, 2010 : 11:21 a.m.
Yep, there were crews outside at 12:30 AM boarding up windows and walls, and tarping the roof to keep looters and this crappy weather at bay. I walked by this morning... The damage is pretty bad, but it definitely could have been a WHOLE lot worse. Props to Pittsfield and any other responding FDs for getting things controlled so quickly.
jondhall
Thu, Dec 30, 2010 : 10:31 a.m.
Wow imagine that, someone actually doing their job! What a novel idea it may catch on, you just never know. Do me a favor do not let the union stewards know about this someone will get disciplined no doubt. OK, back to the fire hall, the job most Americans would cut off one arm for.
WWC
Thu, Dec 30, 2010 : 10:05 a.m.
Beth - I feel certain that is the dog we saw. Has your friend contacted the Humane Society? We tried to get close to the dog but it ran from us. Unfortunately, it ran towards the intersection (Carpenter and Washtenaw). Once the light turned and we were able to turn left on Washt. (we were headed north on Carpenter), we didn't see the dog again.
Suzanne
Thu, Dec 30, 2010 : 9:59 a.m.
@Sallyxyz - Firefighters can not leave the scene until the building in secured. This is typically done by the city's DPW or a private board up company.
Beth
Thu, Dec 30, 2010 : 9:58 a.m.
Our friend lost her dog last night in the fire when firefighters kicked down her door. Please keep an eye out for her! She is a medium sized brown dog with short hair. Please help find her.
frozenhotchocolate
Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 11:43 p.m.
good that everything went well considering the fire and all. that development is huge, i feel bad for the people who live there but were not at home at the time when they heard about it and freaked out. that would be just horrible. well, until they learned the fire wasnt in their unit and still freaked out, that would just be too much.
WWC
Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 8:36 p.m.
The story said that several dogs were rescued. We drove through the intersection of Carpenter and Washtenaw at about 7:30 and saw a dog wandering around who was obviously lost. He/she was walking the sidewalk in front of Palm Palace so we pulled in to check him out since I could see that he had a collar. He ran away though when I opened my car door. I'm wondering if he is possibly from Glencoe Hills. If anyone reads this and is missing a dog or knows of someone affected by the fire who is missing a dog, check with the Humane Society. Glad everyone made it out of the fire safely. Stuff can be replaced but people can't!
Sallyxyz
Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 8:35 p.m.
I'm glad to hear the firefighters were able to contain the blaze so quickly, limit the damage, and that no one was hurt. Now, I hope someone (police or apartment management?) will make sure that the apartments that had to be vacated are secured so there are no break-ins. With all the burglaries in the A2 and Ypsi area these last couple weeks, securing these vacated apartments is important.
Salinemary
Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 7:45 p.m.
Good job firefighters. Thank you for your service.
FireTimes
Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 7:32 p.m.
Nice stop fellas. Job well done!
Ann English
Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 7:21 p.m.
I heard about the fire on WAAM while driving home and was pretty sure it was the Glencoe Hills Apartments being mentioned on the traffic report:"Washtenaw Avenue closed between Carpenter and Foster". There are a lot of residential streets of single-family homes on the south side of that stretch of Washtenaw, and I thought they must have closed the westbound lanes so the fire trucks had space in which to work. But I never expected annarbor.com to publish the story so fast. Perhaps they do get word of these traffic reports and publish them fast frequently, but usually in the morning, between 7 and 9, when I'm not on the road much at all. The eastbound I-94 stretch between Jackson Avenue and State Street was not slick at all this morning at 5:50, when I was on it. Freezing fog? I thought at first that tomorrow's weather was being described. The State Street bridge over I-94 wasn't slippery even at 7:45am.
Khadijah
Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 7:07 p.m.
I have friends in that complex, I hope everyone is ok. :)