HOLLAND, Mich — Authorities in Holland are investigating the cause of a fire that ravaged multiple floors of an apartment building early Monday morning.
According to Holland Fire Department Lt. Tim Fisher, the fire broke out around 5 a.m. at the Bay Pointe Apartments, located at 791 E 16th St. The fire was fully involved and Fisher said his crews had reports that there were people still trapped inside.
When fire crews arrived on scene, they saw heavy fire at the back of the building on all three floors. The Holland Police Department was also on scene to help evacuate the building.
"Once we got crews on scene, we hit the fire hard from the back and did the bulk of the knock down pretty quickly," Fisher explained.
The fire extended into the attic and apartment on the second and third floor, Fisher said. The entire building will be shut down due to electrical and gas, but he said half the building has no fire damage. Crews will need to go through and tear out wall, making sure there's no further fire extension that will force firefighters to come back later.
"We want to make sure that there's no embers in there somewhere hiding especially in the attics and in the insulation. So that's why that's why it takes so long," Fisher said.
One person suffered a minor injury that sent them to Holland Hospital. Fisher said the injury was not due to the fire.
About 35 people displaced. It's not clear which unit the fire started in because there were heavy flames from all three floors.
"We have the investigator on scene right now just getting started," Fisher said. "We're still looking for hot spots so you know at this point we haven't really done investigation -- so it’s still under investigation."
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