GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Fire crews responded to a fire visible on the roof of the building at 1 Ionia Avenue SW in downtown Grand Rapids, which houses Grand Rapids Brewing Company.
Flames and smoke were visible atop the building at 4:20 p.m. Friday afternoon.
"First crew arrived, found heavy, black smoke ensuing from the roof. Once the crews were on scene, the first alarm did an investigation — we actually had heavy smoke and flames from the basement," Grand Rapids Fire Department Chief Brad Brown told FOX 17 at the scene. "So, our crews battled their way into the basement where the kitchen is located, was able to put the bulk of the fire out."
Representatives from the brewery tell FOX 17 that the fire started in a fryer in their basement kitchen.
"Unfortunately, [the fire] did travel the whole length of the building, the whole height of the building, through the exterior HVAC system — ended up catching the roof on fire in multiple places," Chief Brown explained.
Grand Rapids Brewing Company is housed on the first floor of the building, which also houses apartments and offices.
"Within 20 minutes, we had two full alarms, 40 personnel operating — knocked the fire down, knocked the fire down on the roof and are currently doing overhaul, so fantastic job by Grand Rapids Fire today," Chief Brown said.
Fire crews evacuated several nearby buildings when the fire broke out. Evacuations were lifted and everyone was cleared to re-enter, except G.R. Brewing Co., by 5 p.m. Friday.
Chief Brown says the fire caused, "minimal damage based on what we found when we showed up," adding that a good portion of the building could have caught on fire, but, "quick reporting, quick job by our dispatchers and literally being just a few blocks away from headquarters, we were able to arrive and knock the fire down pretty quickly."
He also says the damage in Grand Rapids Brewing Co.'s kitchen, "didn't look too bad," adding that there was a lot of water and the HVAC system will have to be repaired. "I imagine within a few days it will be back up and running."
Chief Brown says there have been no reported injuries, and the building's fire alarms and sprinklers were functioning at the time.
Alex Robles and Mackenzie Wallin just moved into the apartments a few months ago.
“The alarms in our apartment go off like every other day, even just cooking food, so I was upstairs because we have, like, a lifestyle. So, I was upstairs, and she's like, 'Alex, it's not turning off,'” Robles recalled.
“We were both clicking the fire alarm by trying to turn it off because we're like, 'why isn't this turning off?' That's when we opened up the hallway door and realized that all the sirens were going off,” Wallin added.
The two live in one of the 23 apartments located on the fourth and fifth floors of the building.
“They said we won't be able to stay here tonight, but they might let us in to gather some of our stuff in case we could go stay at a hotel or something and, you know, just get some belongings,” Robles said.
