Detroit apartment high-rise burns
One tenant hurt after fire in 10-story building; DTE had shut off gas because owner didn't pay.

Oralandar Brand-Williams / The Detroit News
July 27, 2007

DETROIT-- Detroit fire officials are investigating a three-alarm fire that started on the fifth floor of the Wellington Place apartments on Seward west of Woodward Thursday afternoon.

Deputy Fire Chief Reginald Amos said officials are investigating the cause of the fire, which left a woman tenant of the apartment unit slightly injured. The woman, who has asthma, was taken to Detroit Receiving Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.

The fire has temporarily displaced some tenants of the 10-story yellow brick building. A firefighter on the scene said a few tenants were briefly trapped.

Carrie Minor, who lives on the building's first floor with her disabled 42-year-old son Calvin, said she got him out of the smoke-filled hallway with the assistance of other residents and the building's management.

DTE Energy cut gas service to the high-rise building July 19 after the owner went two years without paying the utility company, and electricity will be cut next if DTE doesn't get paid.

"We felt this was a step that had to be taken," DTE spokesman Len Singer said when the gas was cut.

Minor, who uses an oxygen tank for breathing problems, said she uses a slow cooker and a microwave to cook since there is no gas. She said she hopes that situation is only temporary.

"I can't afford for my oxygen to be off," said Minor as she waited outside on the building's porch along with other residents.

On Thursday, the security guard for the building said the gas bill had been paid on Tuesday and that the service was expected to be back on in a few days, but DTE could not confirm that account Thursday evening.

"That's not to say there hasn't been an arrangement or something in the works," said DTE spokesman John Austerberry.

Rusty Hill, a spokesman for Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, said Thursday the consumer protection division of the Attorney General's Office is investigating the matter.

Staff Writer Joe Menard contributed to this report. You can reach Oralandar Brand-Williams at (313) 222-2027 or bwilliams@detnews.com.