News Reports

Ypsilanti firefighters battle pair of blazes

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Ypsilanti firefighters ran from one blaze to another Wednesday, after a dryer caught fire at an apartment building and a shop fire erupted at a boat painting and overhaul business.

Capt. Dan Cain said firefighters were first called to an apartment at 1118 Huron River Drive, in the Riverrain apartments, just before 10 p.m. They found smoke on all three floors of the 12-unit building, and were preparing to smash open a door on the first floor when one of the Eastern Michigan University students who lived there arrived and let them in.

Cain said the fire extended from a malfunctioning dryer into the wall and ceiling, but the heat broke a water pipe and that slowed the fire down enough to allow firefighters to halt the flames before they spread to another apartment.

No one was injured, Cain said, and only the women in the affected apartment were displaced. Tenants in the rest of the building had been evacuated, but were allowed to return home. Damage was estimated at $8,000.