One person died and up to 11 people were injured during a fire this morning at an Allen Park senior housing complex that forced at least one resident to jump from a window, authorities and witnesses said.
The fire at the two-story Leo L. Paluch Senior Citizen Housing complex at Champaign and Allen roads started at about 5 a.m., Allen Park Fire Chief Douglas LaFond said.
People were hanging out of their windows when LaFond arrived on the scene, and his mother, age 83, was one of the 63 people rescued from the fire, he said.
“When I came up, there was at least a dozen people already hanging out their windows, asking for help,” he said. “It’s a terrible feeling.”
It would’ve been much worse, LaFond said, if two-hour fire doors hadn’t been installed on every apartment of the HUD building a few years ago.
Jeannette Bazinet, 63, said she saw a woman survive a leap from the second floor to the ground below.
“There was two ladies that were sitting on the roof and had to be brought down by ladder, and thank God they were safe as well,” she said.
“This is my worst nightmare,” said Rusty Rempe, 76, a 10-year resident of the building.
She said a neighbor came “charging in the door” to tell her about the fire, but the smoke was too thick to even enter the hallway.
“There was no way you could go out that door,” she said. “We threw both our purses out, and I threw my cane out.”
They were among about 18 people rescued from the second floor by firefighters with ladders. Rempe said a number of people didn’t have shoes or warm clothes as they entered the chilly morning air.
The residents evacuated were offered shelter in next-door Allen Park Public Library and the Salvation Army is bringing supplies to help, LaFond said.
Numerous firefighters from surrounding agencies were called to the scene to help, and firefighters continued to knock down hot spots during the morning.
Beverly Lambert, 57, said a neighbor banged on her door to wake her up on the first floor, and it “smelled like burnt tire” as she evacuated amid heavy smoke.
“It burned your throat,” she said, adding that she saw a woman on oxygen with her mask blackened by the smoke.”
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