Raging fire rips through commercial building in Oak Park, cause unknown

OAK PARK, Mich. (FOX 2) - The fire began at about 7 p.m. and left a commercial building in Oak Park devastated Tuesday night.

The building at 13301 Northend near Coolidge and among the businesses inside is B.A.P.I. which sells commercial construction supplies. Luckily, there have been no reported injuries.

The smoke could be seen for miles followed by an explosion sound said witnesses.

"It was like a pop, like boom," said Destiny Seegars. "It was like a bomb or something like that. I heard it all the (from) home - all the way from Greenfield."

The fire caused the roof of at least one building to collapse and damaging one of the others.

Christopher Huff, the owner of Performance 80 Fitness Studio, watched his business suffer damage from the flames. 

"I wish something could have been done a little bit better," he said. "Could they have stopped the flames, I don't know, I am not a firefighter. But to watch them not get water on the building for over 30 minutes or something - it is kind of hard to take."

Huff's business is just a few doors down from where the fire broke out. He and gym members had to run out of the building and made it out safe.

"They couldn't even get the water going," said Huff. "They didn't have the connection for the fire hydrant, they didn't get anything going. They had to bring Beverly Hills in to get everything started."

"This is heartbreaking, this is like a second home," said Angela Cotton, Performance 80 member. "Just imagine your home being on fire."

There has been no word on what started the fire or claims about non-working equipment leading to a delay in getting water on the flames.

A GoFundMe has been set up for the Performance 80 workout studio. CLICK HERE to help.