KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Neighbors near the intersection of W Michigan Ave and Michikal St are taking stock after an early morning fire took 3 homes.
"I heard some sirens, saw some lights flashing in my window. I didn't really think anything of it because I haven't a lot, right?" explained Meghan Riley, whose family of 5 lived in one of the homes. "But then their dad came in and told me that we had to get out."
Their house wasn't on fire at the time— just after 3:30 a.m. according to Riley— but that didn't last long.
"Within half an hour if not less it had spread to our house and the top garage was in flames," Riley said.
Kalamazoo County Dispatch alerted the press of the fire when the road was shut down around 5:45 a.m.
So far no injuries have been reported, and no human life has been lost, though Riley tells us they weren't able to find their 2 cats when they evacuated.
"My 12-year-old is devastated," Riley said. "They were probably hiding under the bed. We couldn't get to them."
Our crew at the scene saw 3 houses damaged by the fire— at least two are total losses. Riley told us the house where the fire originated had been abandoned for a while.
"These are older houses that are balloon frame construction, so the fire would immediately run up the wall and get into the attic spaces," Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety Fire Marshall, Scott Brooks said, explaining how the fire spread. "What we had was fire that was burning through the middle of the houses."
Crews say the remains of the buildings are too unstable to leave standing. Tear-down began during our live coverage Tuesday morning.
Hear more from the people impacted by the fire below:
