Downtown Apartment Building On Fire Yesterday

Not the kind of Sunday you hope for. Get a nice cup of coffee, relax, go to church, relax. Not yesterday for some downtown apartment dwellers as a six-story downtown apartment building caught fire. The building sustained extensive damage to two floors and the roof due to the fire.

Fox17 reported that at approximately 11:50 a.m. Sunday, people noticed smoke and flames coming from the roof of the Ferguson Apartments at 72 Sheldon Blvd. SE, and quickly called 911. When the Grand Rapids Fire Department arrived in just a few minutes, they issued a second alarm to bring in more firefighters as they knew they were going to need more help.

Not a good scene as the entire building was immediately evacuated and the fire was quickly extinguished. Firefighters remained on scene until mid-afternoon cleaning up.

The fire department said  that the fire started in either a heating/ventilation/air conditioning unit or solar panels on the roof. Multiple HVAC and solar units were involved in the fire, which was limited to the roof area.

The roof and apartments on the fifth and sixth floors suffered extensive damage. There were a total of 83 residents on those floors who have been displaced by the fire.

Once the evacuation had ended, residents of the first, third and fourth floors will be able to return to their apartments. The second floor is under renovation and no one is currently living there.

Hopefully, the displaced people will find suitable housing until repairs and renovations can be made for them to safely move back in to their apartments.