Five restaurant co-workers, most believed to be in their 20s, died in a house fire Sunday morning in a Novi subdivision. The fire’s cause is still unclear, police said.
Police and fire personnel were alerted about 9:30 a.m. and arrived to find smoke filtering up from the basement of the home in the 23000 block of Mystic Forest Drive, said Novi Public Safety Chief David Molloy.
After extinguishing the flames, rescuers found all five victims, who witnesses say were mostly in their 20s, in the basement. Rescuers tried to revive two of the victims. Because of the damage from the fire, identifying the victims “could be an extensive process,” Molloy said.
It’s not clear whether any of the victims were related, or how they were connected to the home. But Molloy said that they all appear to have worked at a “local Asian restaurant,” and may have stayed at the home “occasionally,” but it wasn’t yet clear if the two-story Cape Cod-style house was their permanent address. Autopsies are to be conducted Monday by the Oakland County Medical Examiner's Office.
The basement was heavily damaged by fire, while the rest of the house sustained heavy smoke damage.
On Sunday afternoon, the block of Mystic Forest Drive remained taped off and emergency response vehicles were parked outside the home where the fire started.
Just across the street, neighbor Kurt Kilar said he stepped outside at 9:30 a.m. Sunday to see that home’s garage fuming smoke, but he didn't see any flames.
A fire truck soon arrived and rescuers wheeled out a young man on a stretcher and administered CPR. Kilar said he recognized the man from seeing him walk in the neighborhood, and guessed he was in his late teens or early 20s.
Kilar said the incident was especially shocking in what he called the “boring suburb” he lives in.
“It wrenches your stomach,” Kilar said.
Contact Daniel Bethencourt: 313-223-4531 or [email protected]. Follow on Twitter @_dbethencourt.
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