’Everything was on fire’ homeowner escapes blaze as string of house fires break out on Detroit’s east side

Detroit firefighters spent overnight and much of the morning putting out multiple fires on the city's east side. Just before 2 a.m. Thursday morning near Lillibridge and Mack, LaCresha Long realized that she was in a do-or-die situation. "It was crazy, I looked out here and everything was on fire," she said. "I had to hurry up and get my kids out it was very traumatizing." An abandoned house next door to Long's home caught fire. The flames moved quickly leaving vehicles charred and Lekeisha's home badly damaged. "It's like where we got to go now," she said. About a mile away around 4:30 a.m. Thursday on St. Clair Street near Canfield. Terrence Ireland woke up to find flames on his street also. "I heard the people across the street yelling. I look out the window I just see a big fire and it caught onto their house," he said. Ireland says the fire started at this vacant home next to his neighbor's house. The neighbors crying out for help had this to say.
WBJK-TV Fox 2 Detroit

Multitasking dispatchers Presque Isle County provide calm in the night

It’s the middle of the night, and the phone keeps ringing. At the Presque Isle County Sheriff’s Office, 911 dispatchers on the overnight shift gaze at glowing screens in a dark room, asking questions of the frazzled people on the other end of the line. At 2 a.m. on Thursday of National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, it’s business as usual, calls coming in and help going out while dispatchers juggle a dozen jobs at once. “A dispatcher answers the call,” said Tess Alder, dispatcher and corrections officer for the county. “That’s the most simple way to put it.” Alder and Scott Arkwood, her partner for the night, are two of the dozen dispatchers/corrections officers who tend the county’s phones, where 600 emergency calls land most months.
The Alpena News

Firefighters investigate blaze at vacant house on Saginaw’s West Side

A vacant house on Saginaw’s West Side was the scene of a deliberately set fire. At 12:35 a.m. on Thursday, April 15, firefighters responded to a reported blaze at a house at 2202 Stark St. Crews arrived to find a fire in the house’s front room, said Saginaw Fire Department Battalion Chief James Champney. Crews quickly extinguished the fire and no injuries were suffered, Champney said. Crews cleared the scene around 1:30 a.m. “It was definitely an arson,” he said. He added there were a couple of fires set in the house and that there were accelerants throughout the structure. The house being empty of furniture kept the flames from spreading, he said. Champney said he is unaware of any potential links between the Stark Street fire and a suspicious fire at a vacant duplex that occurred about 4 a.m. on Wednesday, April 14, at 409/411 Gallagher St. on Saginaw’s South Side.
Mlive.com

Missaukee County family of six displaced after house fire

A Missaukee County family of six is starting over after a fire destroyed their home. This is all that is left of the Lake City property. According to the Lake Missaukee fire chief, four county fire departments were called in at about 4 a.m. to put out the fire. We're told the family, two parents and their four children, safely made it out of the house. They're currently being cared for by the Red Cross Northern Michigan Chapter. "It sounds like they're on track to start moving forward after this disaster,” Red Cross Northern Michigan Chapter Disaster Program Manager Brian Hummel said. “I’ve seen way too many times to count families in a very similar situation, and a lot of them would be lost without the immediate assistance that we and others like us provide in our communities."
WGTU-TV ABC 29 Traverse City

Follow Up: Otsego County Fire Department Remembers Fire Chief Dave Duffield

Otsego County is mourning the loss of their longtime fire chief after his death on Monday. He was well known for being the leader of the station and always knew what needed to be done. Assistant Fire Chief Chris Martin worked with him for 35 years. “He was a leader, the backbone of this department and he wDuffield Familyas somebody I looked up to in my career as a firefighter,” he said. Duffield was working on his house when he fell off a ladder and hit his head. He spent 10 days in the hospital before succumbing to his injuries. His death was a shock to the department. “Fire departments are a very strong family and Dave was in charge of that family,” said Martin. “He not only had his family, but he had this family here and he took care of us.” Chief Duffield started with the department 47 years ago, and he spent the last 13 as chief. Cpt. Tim Warren said Chief Duffield wasn’t just involved in the fire department. He was also very involved in the community.
WWTV-TV CBS 9 Cadillac

EGLE, U.S. Coast Guard, Cherry Capital Airport Address PFAS Contamination Sites

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has been working to help home owners in the Pine Grove subdivision after elevated levels of PFAs were detected in residential wells. Just last month those homes were switched to city water. PFAS Investigation Site Lead for EGLE Ann Emington says, “The municipal water connections are now complete. Those began towards the end of February and were completed by March 19. So, all of the 18 residential wells are now hooked up to East Bay Township municipal water and the residential wells have been abandoned.” After further investigation, they uncovered more contamination sites at Cherry Capital Airport and the U.S Coast Guard Station in Traverse City. “They did some remedial investigation work in the area where they were sampling soil, ground water, and pond water,” says Emington.
WWTV-TV CBS 9 Cadillac

Jackson County house fire displaces residents

A house fire displaced residents Wednesday evening in Tompkins Township. Firefighters found flames shooting out of the roof of the house when they arrived around 5:30 p.m. April 14, in the block of 8500 Dixon Road, Rives-Tompkins Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Chris Trapp said. The cause and origin of the fire are still under investigation, Trapp said. There were no reported injuries. The residents were displaced and are said to have made arrangements to stay with family members, Trapp said. The Jackson, Parma-Sandstone and Springport-Clarence fire departments and the Blackman-Leoni Department of Public Safety assisted at the scene.
Mlive.com