2 for 1: Firefighters battling apartment blaze drive across parking lot to put out suspicious car fire
A woman picked a strange time to start a car fire in an Ypsilanti Township apartment complex early Tuesday morning, given the number of firefighters already nearby fighting what they call a suspicious structure fire.
A woman was seen setting a car on fire while firefighters battled an apartment fire.
Photo courtesy of Ypsilanti Township Fire Department
Two firefighters from the Ypsilanti Township Fire Department responded to the apartment fire 716 Woodcreek Court at 12:20 a.m. Tuesday morning and four others from the department were soon sent to the scene along with several others from assisting departments.
With at least 12 additional firefighters from the Ypsilanti, Superior Township and Pittsfield Township fire departments assisting on the scene - as well as officers with the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s office - witnesses said they saw a woman lighting a car on fire in a parking lot at 738 Woodcreek Court.
A witness saw a woman open the driver’s side door, throw something in the vehicle and flee the scene before the care went up in flames at 2:50 a.m.
The fire caused approximately $120,000 worth of damage to the structure.
Photo courtesy of Ypsilanti Township Fire Department
The cause of the apartment fire is unknown, but it originated in a ground-level apartment and damaged the units directly above and across from it.
All four apartments in the unit, which share a common hallway, needed to be evacuated. Residents, 6 adults and 4 children, received infant supplies, food, clothing and lodging from the Washtenaw-Lenawee Chapter of the American Red Cross.
The structure sustained an estimated $120,000 worth of damage, with an additional $50,000 in damages to the contents.
The vehicle fire caused approximately $4,000 in damages.
Both fires are under investigation considered suspicious in nature, Capt. Larry James with the Ypsilanti Township Fire Department.
The complex is located near East Forest and South Harris roads on the township's northeast side.
Contact Pete Cunningham at petercunningham@annarbor.com or by phone at 734-623-2561. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.
Comments
Ann English
Tue, Aug 7, 2012 : 11:18 p.m.
I used to know immigrants who lived in that apartment complex. The Romanians lived far from where these fires took place, in the back of the Woodcreek Apartments, near the swimming pool. Two Guineans I met years later lived much closer to the fires' locations, but they were both young men. One of them showed me how to get there from the east; I remember Redbud Avenue. From the car fire photo, it looks like the fire burned through the left rear door, from the inside. Security measures were taken at the Woodcreek Apartments during the years between my acquaintance s with the Romanians and the Guineans. At first, anyone could open a door to a complex and walk in, then knock on the door of the person(s) he or she wanted to visit. Later, only the residents could get into their complexes, for the complexes making up Woodcreek Apartments were and are today, kept locked.
Pete Cunningham
Wed, Jul 11, 2012 : 1:58 p.m.
The Ypsilanti Township Fire Department clarified the amount of firefighters on the scene from when this article was originally printed. The correction has been made.
santos
Tue, Jul 10, 2012 : 5:20 p.m.
Sounds suspect to me! Who sets a building and a car on fire within the same time frame firemen and cops are there? lol
StopCrying
Tue, Jul 10, 2012 : 4:51 p.m.
If I start a fire over here, they will be too distracted to see me set a car on fire. Brilliant.