Arrest Made In Detroit Apartment Fire Killing 5, Injuring 4 (Updated)

(Updated) DETROIT, MI — Stoked by high winds, a fire ripped through an eight-unit Detroit apartment complex on the city’s east side Wednesday, killing five, injuring four more and leaving an unknown number of mostly elderly , low-income residents homeless. A man who had been described as a person of interest was arrested by a joint police-fire arson task force Wednesday night, according to media reports.

Winds, sometimes gusting as high as 68 miles an hour, hampered firefighters’ efforts to control the blaze, which broke out about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at 10521 Whittier St. The four people who were injured had to leap to safety from second-story windows as flames licked toward the sky.

The building collapsed before firefighters could rescue four of the people who died. One man was pulled from the inferno, but he died on the way to the hospital. The names, genders and ages of the other victims were not immediately available.

Among the injured was a 67-year-old man who sustained second-degree burns to his face, The Detroit News reported. He was listed in critical condition at a Detroit hospital. A 56-year-old man who sustained deep cuts to his hand was in serious condition, and two others — a 70-year-old man and 52-year-old woman, were treated for smoke inhalation and released.

“The flames were jumping. The smoke was so thick it was just rolling,” Marion Thomas, who lives in the building, told the Detroit Free Press. “You couldn’t see anything. It was pitch black.”

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Another resident, Jesse McIntosh, was napping on his living room couch when he was jolted awake by cries of fire. The smoke was so thick in the hallway that he had to feel his way along the wall until he made it outside to safety.

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Deputy Detroit Fire Commissioner David Fornell told the Free Press the wind was blowing so fiercely from the back to the front of the building that it “made it extremely difficult to make entry into the front door.”
The roof of the building collapsed, further complicating the rescue efforts.

“My heart goes out to the families. This is tragic,” Detroit Fire Commissioner Eric Jones told The Detroit News. “They tried valiantly to rescue these individuals.”

Neighbors who saw the fire tried to call 911, but the lines were busy. Earlier Wednesday, the city of Detroit sent out an alert imploring residents making calls related to the high winds to keep emergency lines free for police, fire and emergency medical calls. The city said emergency officials were receiving “an abnormally high volume of calls for service to 911.”

Fornell told the Free Press firefighters responded to multiple calls across the city Wednesday.

“We’ve had fire after fire,” Fornell said. “It’s been horrendous.”

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