News
Apartment fire kills 1
Email this story | Print this story
Thursday, July 5, 2007 11:39 AM EDT
Argus-Press Photo by Anthony Cepak Firefighters climb the fire escape behind a burning building in downtown Owosso Wednesday morning.
Officials are calling a downtown Owosso apartment fire that killed one person, injured others and damaged surrounding businesses “suspicious.”
Fire broke out shortly before 6 a.m. Wednesday in the Washington Street building that houses J's Tux and Bridal Boutique and Hair Peace beauty salon. The second floor of the building has storage and a tool distribution business, and the third floor has five apartments.
Owosso Fire Capt. Chris Hawn said heavy smoke and flames were visible on the third floor when crews arrived. A woman jumped from the building to escape flames, and several others were rescued with ladders, Hawn said.
It's not yet clear where or how the fire started, but Hawn said firefighters encountered flames upon entering the first-floor door between the two businesses.
“They were knocking down flames the second they went through the front door,” he said.
Fire departments from around the area battled the blaze for several hours. The third floor of the building is now gutted, and all three businesses have extensive smoke and water damage.
As crews worked inside the building after the fire, a body was discovered on the third floor. Owosso Deputy Police Chief Mike Rau said the body is that of a man in his 20s. An autopsy is scheduled today in Lansing.
Rau said four other people were taken to the hospital. Terri Diffin, 20, was taken to Memorial Healthcare and then to Hurley Hospital in Flint for treatment of burns, but Rau couldn't say how severe. Carolyn Skodak, 21, was taken to Memorial for treatment of a leg injury. Rau believes she is the one who jumped from the building, although he's not sure.
Samantha Bandt and Stephanie Ashendon, both 19, were also taken to Memorial, Rau said. He believes they both suffered from smoke inhalation.
A spokesperson for Memorial said Bandt, Ashendon and Skodak are all in good condition. A spokesperson for Hurley said Diffin is in critical condition.
Michigan State Police Fire Investigator Sgt. Lenny Jaskulka said investigation of the fire could take several days, if not longer. Rau said elements of the fire make it suspicious, and crews are scheduled to begin sifting through third-floor debris today.
Building owner Dave Miller, a real estate agent at Northside Realty in Owosso, said he spent thousands of dollars in recent years refurbishing the building's apartments and storefronts. Four of the five apartments were occupied, he said.
Although both first-floor businesses suffered extensive water and smoke damage, no fire damage was reported. Hair Peace co-owner Jamie Irish said her shop, which has been in that location for nearly four years, has standing water several inches deep.
Irish and co-owner Casey Voss plan to meet with their stylists today to figure out what to do next. They'd like to open a temporary location soon, and several churches have offered to let them set up shop for the time being.
“There have been so many people who have been awesome,” Irish said. “We're hoping to be up and rolling somewhere Monday.”
They do plan to open up a new, permanent location in the future, but they don't want to return to their current location. In the meantime, Irish said appointments scheduled for the rest of the week will be set up at other salons, which are offering Hair Peace's stylists access to their space.
After the fire was brought under control, firefighters worked quickly to remove bridal gowns from J's. Owner June Cudney said bridal gowns for at least seven weddings scheduled this weekend escaped significant harm, but some gowns still in the building may have been damaged.
Cudney's daughter, an employee of the shop, is working out of her home, and Cudney herself is working out of Ruthy's Cleaners, where many of the gowns have since been moved to. She's not sure when they'll be able to begin cleanup.
Storrer's Clothing suffered water and smoke damage, but not as bad as the other two businesses. Fayenne Storrer, 74, who co-owns the historic shop with her husband Jim Storrer, said the couple expects to reopen the business - but they have an immense amount of cleaning to do first.
“Oh you just can't imagine that, seeing all that water and hearing it run down - oh, it was just horrible,” she said, describing the water damage.
The Storrer family has run the business for more than 100 years in multiple locations, and the fire was clearly devastating to Fayenne and Jim Storrer.
“We had a lot of support, but still, you try to hold it in until you get home and scream,” Fayenne Storrer said.
The Fig Tree - a Bible and gift shop located in the old Carpenter's Corner building at the intersection of Main and Washington streets - escaped major damage, although water and smoke did take their toll. Owner Doug Peterson said the basement has more damage than the first floor, and he plans to assess the condition of his merchandise soon.
Despite the damage to surrounding businesses, the fire was completely contained to the building where it began. Considering the recent tragedy in Linden - in which an entire city block was destroyed by fire - the containment is a measure of victory for some.
“I just want to thank all of the firefighters from all of the departments, they did a great job,” said Steve Schmidt, owner of Schmidt's Jewelry, the business on the other side of Storrer's. “(We were) just seconds away from losing the whole block.”
Schmidt said his shop, which houses numerous historical items, wasn't damaged.
