Multiple cars catch fire at Grandville Meijer

PHOTO: There were multiple car fires at a Grandville Meijer on Monday. It happened around 4:30 p.m. at the Meijer located at 3434 Century Center St. SW near Rivertown Parkway, the Grandville Police Department told News 8. Police are investigating. It’s not yet known what led up to the fire. No one was in any of the vehicles at the time and no one has been injured, police say. Photos sent to News 8 by a viewer showed large flames coming from one of the cars and billows of dark smoke.
WOOD-TV NBC 8 Grand Rapids

Weather History: The 1881 Heat & Drought with Massive Great Lakes Fires & Smoke in September

Massive wildfires swept through the forests of Michigan & Wisconsin, engulfing the Midwest & East, then northeast U.S. in a yellow sky & blue sun from the smoke. Known at the "Thumb Fire" the entire thumb of Michigan's forests were burned. Entire towns burned, killing at least 282 & causing upwards of $65 million (inflation-adjusted) in damage. 3400 barns, homes & schools were destroyed. 15,000 people were reportedly left homeless. It is amazing the death toll was not higher as it burned more than 1 million acres in less than one day. This ranks up with the Minnesota Hinckley Fire of September 1894 (another big drought year that lasted through 1895), Great Fires of 1871 as some of the most destructive in Great Lakes history.
WLFI-TV CBS/CW+ 18 Lafayette

Construction starts on Genesee County fire training facility

The Genesee Intermediate School District officially started the construction of what will be Mid-Michigan's only fire training facility not part of a fire department. The program will allow up to 72 high school students to get advanced firefighter and first responder training -- more than double the current capacity. The facility will be located just south of the Genesee Career Institute parking lot. Students will be able to gain real-world experience in roof rescue, pulling hoses up stairwells and setup before responding to calls. Burton Fire Chief Kirk Wilkinson helped design the program.
WJRT-TV ABC 12 Flint

Cascade Township to begin construction of new $10.9M fire station

A renovation project has relocated a fire station in Cascade Township as plans for a new facility are underway. Cascade Township Fire Station 1 now is based out of a temporary space in an air cargo facility at Gerald R. Ford International Airport as construction soon will begin on a new $10.9 million facility located at the station’s current site. Firefighters will be based at the airport space until the new Fire Station 1 is complete, currently scheduled for fall 2023. “We appreciate the support and the temporary space from our neighbors at the Ford International Airport,” said Fire Chief Adam Magers. “We can’t wait to welcome the community into our new Fire Station 1 next fall.”
Grand Rapids Business Journal

Redford Township man dead, woman hospitalized after fiery crash on I-96 in Detroit

PHOTO: A Redford Township man has died and a woman is still in a hospital in critical condition after a crash and car fire in Detroit, according to police. The crash happened at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday (Sept. 25) on I-96 at Livernois Avenue. When first responders arrived at the scene the car was on fire. Firefighters were able to put the fire out and the two people inside the vehicle did not appear to be burned. They were transported to Henry Ford Hospital in critical condition, the man later died from his injuries. The two people inside the vehicle have been identified as a 54-year-old man and a 67-year-old woman. Their family has been notified and the crash is under investigation.
WDIV-TV NBC 4 Detroit

Flint firefighters battle another suspicious fire on city’s east side

Flint fire crews battle another suspicious fire on the city’s east side. A crowd gathered as a cloud of dark smoke and bright orange flames filled the sky Friday afternoon. Yet another abandoned home went up in flames. This one on Missouri Avenue, a couple houses away from Caleb Weber. “It’s really scary,” Weber told ABC 12. “I heard the sirens, by the time I stepped outside to see what was going on, the house was fully engulfed.” Sources tell ABC 12, there have been a rash of fires in the neighborhood off Dort Highway near Missouri Avenue over the past few months. Most fires are set to abandoned, blighted houses, including ones owned by the Genesee County Land Bank. The work of an arsonist. “We’ve seen a lot of these,” said long time Flint resident Tammy Dana. “They need to be torn down instead of sitting vacant for years.”
WJRT-TV ABC 12 Flint

Dowagiac man climbs out pick-up truck window moments before vehicle catches fire

A Dowagiac man climbed out of his driver’s side window moments before the vehicle caught fire after a crash in Cass County. The collision happened around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, Sep. 25, on Rudy Road, south of Gage Street in Wayne Township. The Cass County Sheriff’s Office investigation shows the pickup, driven by the 25-year-old man, was traveling south when the driver lost control of his vehicle and ran off the roadway and into a tree. After he got out, the vehicle erupted in flames. Wayne Township Fire and Dowagiac Fire Departments were able extinguished the fire. The driver was taken to Borgess Lee Memorial Hospital with minor injuries.
WTRC-FM 95.3 Niles