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Ann Arbor teacher and family lose everything in apartment fire
On Saturday at around 5:45 a.m., a fire began engulfing one of the buildings at the Arbor Landings Apartment complex. Fortunately, no one was reported injured. The flames were shooting from the roof of the complex before one neighbor, Brian Garred, who lived just feet away, awoke to someone banging on his door.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (FOX 2) - Multiple families have lost their homes after a massive fire over the weekend in Ann Arbor. Meanwhile, the community is coming together to help those families.
What they're saying:
On Saturday at around 5:45 a.m., a fire began engulfing one of the buildings at the Arbor Landings Apartment complex. Fortunately, no one was reported injured.
The flames were shooting from the roof of the complex before one neighbor, Brian Garred, who lived just feet away, awoke to someone banging on his door.
"I saw an orange glow through the blinds of my window and I thought it was the sun rising," he said. "Almost the entire top of the place was ablaze, and the roof was gone already at that point."
Garred grabbed his phone and called 911, where a dispatcher told him that fire crews were almost at the scene and that people were calling from the highway. He then told FOX 2 that police went door to door alerting those living close to the burning units.
"It was really heavy wind that morning, it was blowing everywhere, and so they just had us immediately evacuate," he said.
Seconds later, the Ann Arbor Fire Department arrived on the scene. Firefighters say the damage from the fire itself was limited to two units, but six others had massive smoke and water damage.
Dig deeper:
They also say the blaze caused an estimated $700,000 worth of property damage.
Orange stickers and padlocks indicate that the eight families who once called the building home will now need a new place to live.
What you can do:
The residents of the complex have not pulled together to help those affected by the weekend fire.
FOX 2 learned one of those families included a Dexter school teacher and mother of three who has a GoFundMe page set up to help fill the financial gap in addition to renters insurance.
The initial investigation points to the fire starting on or near the second-floor balcony and spreading to the attic.
Investigators have ruled it an accidental fire, with nothing to indicate it was intentionally set.
The Source: FOX 2 talked with neighbor Brian Garred and Ann Arbor Fire.