Fire destroys Jamestown unit, cause unknown
Three local fire departments responded to a single apartment fire Sunday that caused $60,000 in damage to several units in Jamestown Apartments Sunday night. Building PP 16 was ruled as a loss.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, according to Mount Pleasant Fire Department Lt. Rick Beltnick. No one was injured in the incident, residents of unit 16 were not present when the fire started.
Two adjacent apartment units suffered minor smoke and water damage and several members of Building PP were unable to stay the night in their apartments due to the smoke.
Beltnick said the MPFD received a call at 8:09 p.m. and sent two of their three on-duty engines. The Shepard 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.
"We sent in our firefighters to perform an interior attack and put the fire out fairly quickly," Beltnick said.
Saginaw junior Sam Fitzpatrick said the residents of PP 16 had not been home all day. He described how a man and woman entered the building to warn neighbors of the fire before police arrived.
"They ran in knocking on doors, it was pretty heroic that they went in when no one knew what was going on," Fitzpatrick said.
Students gathered around the apartment complex as firefighters pumped smoke from the charred building. The rear side of PP 16 was exposed after the fire was extinguished, as pieces of vinyl siding melted from the intense heat.
Seniors and Jamestown residents Lindsay Nosek, Sarah Lanyon and Shannon O'Connor said they received no warning from police and came outside after smelling smoke. O'Connor said she was returning home when she saw signs of the fire and "could tell it had been burning for awhile," based on the amount of smoke.
Witnesses said the scene was generally calm and the fire was put out quickly.
