Firefighters battle blaze at apartment building in downtown Milan
Fire crews from around Washtenaw County responded to a fire at an apartment building in downtown Milan around 2 a.m. Wednesday, according to fire officials.
Pittsfield Township Fire Chief Sean Gleason said the building, located in the 200 block of West Main Street, had recently been renovated, which posed structural difficulties for the crews.
"(Firefighters) had a hard time accessing it," Gleason said.
The Pittsfield Township fire crews were on scene for about three to four hours. The extreme heat was also a factor. When it is as hot as Monday night - after temperatures peaked at above 100 degrees during the day - firefighters need to be rotated more often, Gleason said.
"It was just ridiculously hot," he added.
Gleason said there were no injuries.
According to a release from the American Red Cross, eight volunteers from its Washtenaw-Lenawee and Monroe County chapters responded to the fire and assisted 20 individuals with infant supplies, food, clothing and lodging.
Volunteers also provided beverages and snacks for about 105 first responders.
Officials from the Milan Area Fire Department were not immediately available for comment. This story will continue to be updated as more information becomes available.
John Counts covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at johncounts@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
Fat Bill
Thu, Jul 19, 2012 : 7:52 p.m.
Mutual Aid responses typically involve only a portion of the firefighters from each participating department, to avoid the situation "talker" was referring to. In well-organized mutual aid plans, if a department's resources are depleted, a mutual-aid unit is sent to man the station for the potential next call. The responses and station "move-ups" are usually planned in advance. For major incidents, MIchigan has the MABAS plan (Mutual Aid Box Alarm System), a systematic approach to mutual aid.
talker
Thu, Jul 19, 2012 : 1:37 a.m.
This is another reason why Ann Arbor and some surrounding jurisdictions need to have more firefighters on duty every shift. When firefighters from one place provide needed help elsewhere, then there may be no firefighters available within miles if a fire breaks out in Ann Arbor. What good is it being two miles from a fire station if all the firefighters from that station are working in Milan, ypsilanti, or Pittsfield Township? The crux of the problem is that several communities are relying on the same firefighters in the event serious fires break out. Sure, we get help from Pittsfield Township, etc., but we also need enough Ann Arbor firefighters so that enough remain on duty here, while others go to aid other communities.
dading dont delete me bro
Wed, Jul 18, 2012 : 5:14 p.m.
sad the local fd's have had to rely on so much mutual aid these days. just about all fire stories lately have stated mutal aid. how hard will this be on each of them? glad there were no injuries.
Tag
Wed, Jul 18, 2012 : 7:52 p.m.
The mutual aid system saves cities and townships a lot of money by not having to employe a full-time staff of fire fighters. Also, over the years fire statistics are down. We just don't have that many fires anymore. Look at what the City of Ann Arbor has done with its department. The FD doesn't need to go on every run that can be taken care of by the police department or paramedics (ie.: HVA)
Fordie
Wed, Jul 18, 2012 : 6:03 p.m.
Part of the reason for the relying on significant mutual aid was that this was a very large fire that took even the 100 fire fighters several hours to extinguish. The mutual aid system, while maybe not ideal in every aspect, seemed to work exactly as intended. Thank you for the hard work of all agencies involved.