One-third of the units in an Ypsilanti Township apartment building are considered a total loss after an early morning fire. Six of the 18-units at Towsley Apartments in the 400-block of North Harris Road were destroyed. A building inspector will have to determine whether the rest of the units are still habitable, but for the time being those residents have also been required to leave.
Resident Mark Whitaker says the future for the complex is uncertain but all residents are looking for housing in the short term.
According to Whitaker the fire started in the attic around four in the morning. He hopes to salvage as much as he can from his apartment but doesn’t know where he’s going to stay tonight.
A cause of the blaze remains under investigation. Ypsilanti Township Fire Captain Larry James told the Ann Arbor News, damage is estimated at about 100-thousand dollars.
According to James, the original 9-1-1 call came from someone in the neighborhood who noticed smoke emanating from the complex.
Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Deputies were the first to arrive, and evacuated residents from the building. The displaced were taken to a Sheriff’s Department substation while firefighters battled the blaze.
None of the residents were injured, but one firefighter suffered a minor eye injury and was treated by paramedics.
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— Andrew Cluley is the Ann Arbor beat reporter, and anchor for 89.1 WEMU News. Contact him at 734.487.3363 or email him acluley@emich.edu.
