KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — Two people are dead and a historic Kalamazoo home is heavily damaged after a fire broke out Thursday night.
Public Safety crews were dispatched to the three-story home on Academy Street at about 9 p.m. and battled the fire for hours.
Because the home had been converted into at least 9 apartments there were voids and spaces that made it difficult to get at the flames.
It was called the Balch home, it was the original home of the Park Club and once sat on the corner of Rose and South before it was moved to its current location on Academy.
It was built by Nathaniel Balch, an attorney who served as County Prosecutor and State Senator and founded the Kalamazoo Literary Institute, which would later become Kalamazoo College.
The press release first stated that one person was taken to the hospital with injuries but now published reports state that two bodies were pulled from the home.
No names have been released at this time and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
(John McNeill and Jeana Gondek contributed to this story)
