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Posted on Tue, May 22, 2012 : 4:50 p.m.

Kitchen fire burns man trying to put it out; woman injured jumping from window

By John Counts

A man was burned over 30 percent of his body trying to put out a kitchen fire in his apartment, and a resident of an adjacent apartment suffered minor injuries when she jumped out a window to escape Tuesday afternoon in Ypsilanti, firefighters said.

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Wendell Wilson, who lives in an apartment adjacent to the one where a fire broke out Tuesday afternoon, gestures in frustration. Wilson said everything he owns was in his apartment.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

The fire broke out around 3 p.m. Tuesday in the kitchen of a second-floor apartment at 20 N. Summit Street, firefighters said.

Ypsilanti firefighters, along with those from Ann Arbor and Pittsfield and Ypsilanti townships, trained hoses on the blaze and brought it under control in about 40 minutes.

Firefighters said the 35-year-old male resident of the apartment tried to put the fire out with an extinguisher, burning his hands in the process.

“The fire started in the kitchen,” said Capt. Dan Cain of the Ypsilanti Fire Department. “The tenant said he was outside, came back inside when he started seeing smoke. He had something on the stove. He came back in the house, found the fire in the kitchen area. He tried to hit it with an extinguisher. That’s how he got burned." A 45-year-old woman in an adjacent apartment, which had filled with smoke, jumped out a window and rolled down a garage on the property, firefighters said.

“There was no doubt she had to get out,” Cain said.

Nathan Foley, of Ypsilanti, was in the garage where he works fixing cars and arcade games at the time the woman rolled onto it.

“We've got squirrels up in the ceiling, but that was more than a squirrel I heard,” he said. “I came out the back door and she was sitting on the roof screaming and hollering. She couldn’t get off. Smoke was coming out real bad. I had to get her off.”

Foley said the 35-year-old man, who had escaped from his burning apartment, helped get her off.

The man was transported to U-M Hospital with first and second degree burns over 20 to 30 percent of his body, Cain said.

The 45-year-old woman who crawled out of her window was taken to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital with minor injuries.

The house, which had been converted to several apartments, suffered fire damage, smoke and water damage throughout.

Stewart Beal, of Beal Properties which owns the house, said the residents of the apartment house will be able to stay at one of his other nearby properties and have the option to move back into 20 N. Summit once repair work is finished.

Red Cross was also on the scene. Ten volunteers from the Washtenaw-Lenawee Chapter of the American Red Cross assisted seven residents with food, clothing, lodging and health services.

Cain said the department had a full complement of six firefighters on duty today, which allowed them to attack the fire immediately upon arrival rather than waiting for mutual aid, thereby limiting property damage.

“It was a hell of a fire, I’ll tell you that,” Foley said. “It was just billowing black smoke.”

Cindy Heflin contributed to this report.


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Comments

whitney

Wed, May 23, 2012 : 4:12 p.m.

Glad everyone got out alive, thats the most important! The poor man was sent to the hospital for 1st and 2nd segree burns, thats horrible! He is a great and nice guy, so whoever brought up possibly drugs?? um, no. you can erase that from your mind. The fire may have started in his apartment, and he may have made a mistake by running outside for a minute, but dont we all walk away from cooking at some point to attend to children, pets, or to do's? Also, that man helped the woman get off the garage, so lets give him a bit more credit here kay? No ones perfect but when he had to do what he needed he did and that makes him great and a hero for helping that woman! That man also lost everything in the fire so im sure he feels bad enough!Your in my prayers!

Chase Ingersoll

Wed, May 23, 2012 : 1:05 p.m.

@Ypsidoodle: "Because I was on the scene and spoke with several residents of this complex who gave much more detail as to what really may have lead to this incident... that's all I will say, leave it to the officials and the press at this point" Don't throw this out there and then walk away from it. Every one of us needs to shoulder part of the "official" and "press" business. That's how we keep the officials and press honest.

Ypsidoodle

Wed, May 23, 2012 : 3:27 p.m.

I didn't walk away from it, AnnArbor.com deleted it so now I know this is not the venue to generate that additional information. There are other routes. Regards.

Chase Ingersoll

Wed, May 23, 2012 : 12:57 p.m.

I thought about my comment yesterday. I've been watching the reports of fires in this newspaper for several years. I grew up in the state of Washington where we had forest fires and where in grade school we went through an "only you can prevent forest fires" program which was also part of every summer camping trip. I think the same applies to house fires. "Only you [the occupant] can prevent fires started by cooking, cigarettes, dryers, under-rated extension cords, or anything else that combining observation and common sense. would make a reasonably responsible person take preventative action." And you, the occupant have to ultimately take responsibility for the batteries in the smoke detector that can save not only your life, but those of the people around you. Show that you care. Please. People reading this paper, are wonderfully full of compassion, but woefully lacking in common sense and insisting that individuals take individual responsibility. Consider the effect of "preventable" fires and damages on all of our insurance rates. Consider the effect on our costs for fire department and health care services. And yes.....I have a conniption....... when I catch people placing plastic utensils or dishes on or next to a stove. The worst is catching them storing used kitchen grease in a plastic jar and then leaving it on a stove between the burners with the no-stick oil in a compressed spray can. From the information in the paper, I suspect this was a grease fire and am troubled that of the mention "I saw the smoke" and not "I heard the smoke detector". Chase Ingersoll

ahi

Wed, May 23, 2012 : 12:54 p.m.

"Cain said the department had a full complement of six firefighters on duty today, which allowed them to attack the fire immediately upon arrival rather than waiting for mutual aid, thereby limiting property damage." Hint hint nudge nudge wink wink. Cain obviously knows how to use the press (to his credit).

pseudo

Wed, May 23, 2012 : 10:59 a.m.

I'm glad everyone is going to be ok. From the article: a person said they had something on the stove and yet that same person was outside and had to come back in to use the fire extinguisher. I will be interested in the updates but I don't see a way to blame Mr. Beal or the fire extinguisher for a kitchen fire where someone had something of the stove and left it there to go outside. We all make mistakes. And it is worth asking how much worse this fire would be there was a need to delay fighting the fire until mutual aid arrived.

thedime

Wed, May 23, 2012 : 10:22 a.m.

Two words are needed here. Stewart Beal. Enough said

Chase Ingersoll

Wed, May 23, 2012 : 1:01 p.m.

Having been in the business, I find this statement completely unfair, unless you want to point out the inherent hazard of the properties (old and cut up); location (Yspsilanti - low rent); and, tenants (low income). These are the characteristics that the studies show are the underlying conditions for fires. Beal and other property owners could avoid being the subject of statements such as yours if they would only put their money into newer properties and did not rent to low income tenants. Chase Ingersoll

amlive

Wed, May 23, 2012 : 2:20 a.m.

On reading the headline I was about to boast my preparedness of having fire extinguishers at the ready in my kitchen, but on reading the article I feel embarrassingly humbled. Obviously this man thought he was ready as well, and went for the extinguisher as I'm sure I would have done, yet left with injuries and the fire still burning. I'm very glad to hear that results were not worse, and would greatly appreciate a follow up by some experts to this story. Was the extinguisher not rated for grease fires (assuming this is what it was?), or not fully charged? Was the fire simply too big for a lay person to attempt to extinguish on their own, and if so are there any general rules to tell when we should pull out the extinguisher or simply run? Was there a mistake (which any of us could have made) in how the extinguisher was used? I wish everyone the best in their recovery, and look forward to a follow up on the investigation.

Ypsidoodle

Wed, May 23, 2012 : 3:31 p.m.

Just wondering... can't say more here for fear of having my comments deleted but having been there, would really love additional follow up by the press as that's what they're paid to do...

amlive

Wed, May 23, 2012 : 1:17 p.m.

"Was it really a grease fire?" I should have made more clear that I was just guessing on one possibility among many, not so much to speculate on what actually happened here, but rather as a real possibility for any kitchen fire. If the wrong type of extinguisher is used on a grease fire it can make things much worse, and is one thing among many which may be good for a firefighter to address in a follow up guest column.

Ypsidoodle

Wed, May 23, 2012 : 10:04 a.m.

Was it really a grease fire?

Chase Ingersoll

Wed, May 23, 2012 : 1:59 a.m.

"The fire started in the kitchen," said Capt. Dan Cain of the Ypsilanti Fire Department. "The tenant said he was outside, came back inside when he started seeing smoke. He had something on the stove." It being illegal to operate an automobile without liability insurance, if operating a household kitchen can cause just as much damage, why not require tenants to post proof of financial responsibility in the form of a renters insurance/liability policy to cover both damage to property and damage to persons, as occurred in this incident? Chase Ingersoll

Ypsidoodle

Wed, May 23, 2012 : 10:07 a.m.

Chase, this story has been badly sanitized or not given enough attention... I agree with you.

amlive

Wed, May 23, 2012 : 2:43 a.m.

Chase, with all due respect, given the injuries and property losses incurred here I feel this comment to be untimely at best, or perhaps simply insensitive and somewhat pious. As to insurance, property owners insure the property, tenents insure the contents. It's how the deal works, and I see nothing here suitable to stimulate any change in that arrangement. As to the specific circumstances and inferring possible negligence, we simply have no information here to insinuate any blame. Show me a person who has never walked away from their stove for a moment, and I'll show you a person who has never cooked. Whether tending to other chores while a stew pot is simmering for hours or answering a knock at the door while burgers are frying, we've all had our moments of being out of sight of a running stove. That factor alone as presented here should not automatically be taken to imply negligence. Let's wait for the full report.

Ypsidoodle

Tue, May 22, 2012 : 11:37 p.m.

Just please investigate this further... the residents of that complex deserve as much. It wasn't their fault.

Ypsidoodle

Wed, May 23, 2012 : 10:02 a.m.

Because I was on the scene and spoke with several residents of this complex who gave much more detail as to what really may have lead to this incident... that's all I will say, leave it to the officials and the press at this point.

WalkingJoe

Wed, May 23, 2012 : 1:54 a.m.

The man in the one apartment admitted he left food on the stove unattended and it caught fire, these things happen. Why do you want or need a large investigation?

Ypsidoodle

Tue, May 22, 2012 : 11:27 p.m.

I don't know what it is yet, but I hope the whole story comes out.

kelly

Tue, May 22, 2012 : 10:59 p.m.

I see you changed bellowing to billowing. You're welcome.

Mark Hergott

Tue, May 22, 2012 : 10:58 p.m.

Does anyone know how long fire investigations take, usually?

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