Fire at Novi Apartment Complex Damages 16 Units, Destroys 8: UPDATED

This story has been updated.

Fire chewed through several units of a Novi apartment complex and caused tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage Thursday before firefighters were able to bring the blaze under control.

Sixteen units in all were affected by the blaze at the Glens of Northville 300-unit complex, and eight were completely destroyed.

Novi Public Safety Chief David Molloy told The Oakland Press there were no injuries, “but a few pets may have perished” in the stubborn fire, which started in the back of the complex near Novi and Eight mile roads.

Resident Alan Peasley reported the fire about 10:30 a.m. Thursday. He stopped by his apartment, which wasn’t damaged, after doing some shopping and saw black smoke rolling from from the roof.

“What if I wouldn’t have come here?” he said, pointing out that most residents are gone during the work day.

Newlyweds Shai and Aidan Bell were able to save their cat from the blaze, but told the newspaper as they watched flames shooting out of their living room window that they had probably lost everything. They had just moved into the complex three weeks ago after relocating to the Petoskey area.

“You can replace a bed, wood, but not a human life,” Aidan Bell said.

Northville firefighters assisted in extinguishing the blaze and remained on the scene late Thursday afternoon.

Molloy said a firewall installed in the complex may have stopped it from spreading.

The fire was the second at the complex in recent months. In late January, a fire erupted during maintenance on the furnace.

Patch’s earlier report:

An apartment building is on fire in the area of Eight Mile and Meadowbrook, according to social media reports.

This is a developing story. Please come back to Patch for details.