BATTLE CREEK, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Battle Creek Police are continuing to investigate an apartment fire that injured 7 and displaced about 80 residents.
The blaze broke out around 10:30 p.m. Sunday at the Village Inn apartments on Riverside Drive and it took crews about 13 hours to clear the scene.
7 people suffered smoke inhalation and 2 firefighters required treatment for exhaustion and a minor forearm injury.
Battle Creek Fire Marshal Quincy Jones says the instability of the burned out portion of the apartment has kept him from going in to investigate the cause.
He says it will also keep former residents from going back in to retrieve whatever possessions are salvageable for an undetermined time period.
Residents complain that there were no alarms, they either smelled smoke or were notified by escaping tenants that the place was on fire.
Fire officials have made trips into the less damaged portion of the building to retrieve ID’s and prescription medicines, but for now the 80 displaced residents are on their own, with just what they were able to carry out.
Three cats and a dog rescued from the building were taken to animal control.
The Red Cross is helping the displaced who need temporary housing.
