Fire, possible explosion at West Detroit apartment building injures 13 people, including 6 kids
Six adults and six children were rescued and taken to an area hospital in the aftermath of an apartment building fire and explosion early Monday on Detroit's west side. One additional person was able to escape on their own.
Three of those people remain in critical condition with severe burns, according to the fire department. Those people were all in the same apartment at the time, officials said.
"Everything, clothes, my TVs, all that, my games, my everything, it's gone," said David Williams.
The fire and building explosion was reported at about 4 a.m. near the intersection of Littlefield Street and Schoolcraft Road in Detroit. A neighbor said later that the impact rattled nearby buildings. Fire officials said about 60 first responders, including Detroit Police and Detroit Fire crews, were called to the location.
"They had people at the windows ... kind of hanging off, ready to jump," Chuck Simms, executive fire commissioner, told reporters during one of two press briefings held Monday morning. "Thank you to the fires and medics that responded. They responded in a very quick manner. Without their fast response and fast thinking, this could have been a lot worse."
The explosion left neighbors shaken up, including Charlene Jackson and her kids who live inside.
"I hear this loud boom, so I'm thinking it was like a tornado or something because the impact on the building," said Jackson.
Jackson's family is doing okay, but she says screams could be heard outside and people were seen jumping out the windows.
"Everything just happened so fast I'm just like blown away," Jackson stated. "Now I don't have nothing. They knocked this whole building down, everything I just put into my apartment building…it's, it's gone."
The American Red Cross and the city of Detroit are working with displaced residents to find them new housing.
The cause of the explosion remains under investigation. City investigators and DTE are working together to determine the cause. Natural gas lines were turned off in the area.
Emergency alerts to cell phones
Some Southeast Michigan residents reported receiving an emergency broadcast alert to their phones during the early morning about an explosion at the apartment location. Given the number of people reporting it and their locations, CBS News Detroit asked for clarification.
A Detroit Fire Department spokesman said the alert was supposed to be sent out only to residents in the incident zip code using the Detroit Alerts 365 mobile app, which cell phone users can opt into.
But an error was made, and the person who sent the message instead used the Federal Emergency Management System's Integrated Public Alert & Warning System (IPAWS), which goes to all cell phones in a wider area.
"DFD apologizes for any inconvenience this caused the community," the notice said.
