Ypsilanti firefighters douse two fires attributed to carelessness

Around 2 a.m., the fire crews were dispatched to the 300 block of Jarvis Street in Ypsilanti for reports of a third floor balcony that had caught fire.

Lt. Scott Maddison of the Ypsilanti Fire Department said a resident on the third floor of an apartment building was using a charcoal grill on a wooden deck, which is against city ordinances.

“It caused a fire that burned down from the third floor to the second floor,” Maddison said.

A woman who lived on the second floor below the balcony was turning off her air conditioner and opening a window when she smelled the smoke and immediately called 911. Firefighters had the small blaze out before it spread to the rest of the building. The blaze caused about $3,000 in damages, but could have been much worse, Maddison said.

“(The woman) did a good job” by calling 911 so quickly, Maddison said.

Another major blaze was averted Friday afternoon thanks to the watchful eyes of firefighters.

A fire crew on a truck traveling in the 900 block of Congress Street about 3:30 p.m. saw a column on a porch ablaze at an apartment house.

“That one was (caused) by discarded cigarette butts,” Maddison said.

A plastic container that was being used as an ashtray next to the column caught fire, and the fire spread up the post. The fire was quickly put out.

Maddison said the fires were close calls that could have been much worse.

“Both were caused by carelessness, I guess you’d say,” he said.

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