Two rescued, others evacuated after Petoskey apartment building fire
PETOSKEY, Mich. (WPBN/WGTU) -- One person had to be rescued and several others were evacuated when a fire broke out at an apartment building in downtown Petoskey.
It happened Thursday around 1 p.m.
There were twelve units in the building. One resident said there were about six people inside when the fire broke out.
Smoke poured from the window of the apartment where the fire started.
“I had opened my windows in the living room, this man ran through between the house and the building yelling ‘fire, fire, get out, get out,’” said Melinda Engstrom, who lives in the building.
Engstrom did just that, but on her way out she fought through the smoke to wake up neighbors who she says were asleep.
“It’s pitch black full of smoke and all I did was went to my neighbor’s door, pounded on his door, yelled through the building ‘get out, get out there’s a fire,'” Engstrom said.
No one was hurt in the fire but there is likely quite a bit of damage inside.
"We are fortunate. It was a very quick response," said Chief Mathew Breed, Petoskey Department of Public Safety. "We had a patrol unit close by, it was able to give us a size up, immediately called for assistance from Resort Bear Creek and they had some personnel that were close so we had a quick response. We're able to get the seed of the fire knocked down and get people out."
People who live there were able to go inside and get some of their belongings but it will be up to the building's owner when they can move back in.
Fire investigators are working to try to figure out what started the fire.
