United Apartments accommodates residents of Jamestown after apartment fire
Jamestown apartment PP 16 caught on fire March 15 in Mount Pleasant.
United Apartments has paid to house residents whose apartments were damaged by a fire Sunday in Jamestown Apartments.
Residents will stay at the Baymont Inn & Suites until they can be moved into new apartment units. The current apartments sustained smoke and water damage from a fire that erupted in unit PP 16, causing $60,000 in damage and destroying unit 16.
Jared Miller, renter of one of four affected units, said United Apartments has been accommodating. Miller said United provided a team of movers to help residents transition to their new apartments.
For Miller, getting a call about the fire was especially alarming. Standing between his two young children, Miller said he was worried all of his belongings had been destroyed. He does not carry renters insurance.
"When they called and said there was a fire, I was glad the kids were at their mom's, but I was worried all of our things would be destroyed," Miller said.
Miller's residence is below and to the left of the apartment where the fire started, but it suffered very little damage. Inside his home, a residual smell of smoke in his apartment is the only evidence that a fire ever occurred.
Mount Pleasant Fire Department received a call at 8:09 p.m. Saturday and sent two of three on-duty engines. The Shepherd Tri-Township Fire Department and Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Fire Department also arrived on scene, with assistance from the Michigan State Police controlling traffic. Witnesses said the fire was extinguished at about 8:30 p.m. Upon their arrival, firefighters found the multi-story apartment building billowing smoke and fire from the second story apartment.
The Mount Pleasant Fire Department and the Isabella County Sheriff's Department are still investigating the cause of the fire, while fire and flood remediation companies fix the water and smoke damage. According to police, much of the unit where the fire originated was destroyed by the flames and water, so determining the cause of the fire may not be possible.
Mount Pleasant Police Department Public Information Officer Jeff Browne said this fire is a prime example of why students should have renter's insurance.
"Often students can be covered under their parents' homeowners insurance," Browne said.
United Apartments declined comment for this story.
