WESTLAND, Mich. – Several families are without a home Wednesday night after a fire ripped through an apartment complex in Westland.
Firefighters battled the flames all night at the Westwood Village Apartments near the corner of Joy and Newburgh roads in Westland.
The roof of the building collapsed, and firefighters believe the entire unit is destroyed.
"I'm just looking at the smoke," resident James Cornwell said. "It's terrible."
Clouds of thick smoke poured over Joy Road.
"Smoke. That's all I saw was a whole lot of black smoke," resident Lavonne Fuller said.
The flames were just as intense as the smoke, but officials said everybody got out of the apartment building safely. Many stood and watched as firefighters tried to get the flames under control.
"It's been going on for two or three hours and it's still not going out," Fuller said. "It goes out and comes back."
The fire moved into the attic, making it difficult for firefighters.
"My aunt told me, 'The house is on fire,'" Fuller said. "I was, like, 'Oh my God.'"
There are at least 24 families displaced by the fire, officials said.
"I'm just glad everybody got out safe," Fuller said. "It's just devastating to see this."
"All that stuff can be replaced," Cornwell said.
The apartment complex requires that all tenants have renter's insurance.
One couple that lived in the building moved in Tuesday, just a day before the fire destroyed the building, officials said.