Four people were injured in an apartment building fire Monday morning in Detroit, with two of them transported to area hospitals, according to the Detroit Fire Department.
Crews responded to the blaze at approximately 7:40 a.m. in the 4300 block of Cicotte Street, near Michigan Avenue.
The building had 28 occupied units at the time of the fire.
Sharita Hamilton, a resident of about two years, said the hallway was filled with smoke when she and her husband woke their two children to evacuate, joining neighbors who were also rushing toward the exit.
“It was pretty chaotic. It was scary,” she said, speaking to reporters in the parking lot of the complex about their escape.
Detroit Fire Department Senior Chief Leo Spitzig said the first crews arrived 4 minutes and 20 seconds after the call was made, and immediately requested a second alarm to bring additional personnel to the scene. The fire was contained to one apartment on the second floor, but smoke spread into other areas of the building, Spitzig said. Visible smoke damage marked the exterior of the building after crews brought the fire under control.
Spitzig said firefighters arrived to find people standing near the windows of several apartments.
One man jumped from a third-floor window to escape and was taken to Henry Ford Hospital for leg injuries, fire officials said. A second man was transported to Detroit Receiving Hospital for smoke inhalation treatment.
The two remaining injuries involved men who were evaluated on scene by EMS but did not require hospital transport, fire officials said.
Detroit firefighters deployed ladders to reach residents who were unable to exit through the smoke-filled hallways.
The absence of more serious casualties was “an okay end to a bad situation,” the chief said.
The Detroit Department of Transportation dispatched buses to the scene to give displaced residents a place to sit out of the sun. Additional assistance is being coordinated through the building owner, the City of Detroit, the American Red Cross, and the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, a fire department spokesperson said.
The fire investigation division has taken over the case.
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