Residents Displaced After Fire Rips Through Auburn Hills Apartment Building
AUBURN HILLS (WWJ) - Dozens of residents in Auburn Hills are left scrambling for a place to live after their apartment building went up in flames overnight.
The fire broke out just before 4:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Beacon Hill Apartments off Walton Boulevard and Squirrel Road.
Fire crews arrived on scene and observed heavy flames moving up the rear wall of the building, which has 16 apartment units.
Auburn Hills police officers assisted firefighters by notifying sleeping residents in the adjoining apartments. All residents were able to exit on their own and no one was injured. Firefighters rescued a cat from one of the adjoining apartments.
A cause of the fire remains under investigation. Officials say preliminary investigation shows the fire most likely started on an outside rear deck.
The incident was elevated to a fourth alarm, authorities said, due to the fast moving fire combined with the complexity of a building with multiple apartments on three separate levels. Fire crews from Rochester Hills, Rochester, Orion Township, Independence Township, Oakland Township, Troy, Waterford Regional and Bloomfield Township assisted on the scene.
One Auburn Hills firefighter fell and suffered a leg injury while battling the fire. He was later transported to a hospital to be examined. No other firefighters were injured during the incident.
Six of the apartments suffered heavy fire and water damage, while all other units in the building suffered some level of water or smoke damage. The American Red Cross is currently assisting displaced residents.
The fire remains under investigation.