GROSSE POINTE PARK, Mich. – Fire crews battled a blaze overnight Tuesday into Wednesday morning that broke out at an unused building in Downtown Grosse Pointe Park.
Firefighters worked through cold conditions early Wednesday, March 8, to extinguish a fire that overtook a building on Charlevoix Street between Lakepoint and Maryland streets, near Mack Avenue and Alter Road. Locals said the building used to be an office space, but hasn’t been occupied for 20 years or so.
You can see footage from the scene in the video player above.
Firefighters arrived at the scene at around 2 a.m. and first attempted to fight the fire from inside the building, but exited the building after deciding it wasn’t safe. The roof eventually collapsed and flattened out inside the building. Firefighters continued their efforts from the exterior.
Crews pumped water into the building from the ground and from above, attempting to extinguish the fire and any lingering hot spots. Fire officials said it was difficult to reach the fire’s source after the roof collapsed. The building was reportedly being used as an essential storage unit and had items inside, along with roof fragments.
First responders also had to battle cold conditions, which caused some of the sprayed water to freeze on their equipment.
Firefighters were particularly focused on saving neighboring pub O’Flaherty’s from the fire. While the former office building was mostly a loss as of Wednesday morning, officials said the firewall between the two buildings was successfully blocking the flames from overtaking the restaurant, too.
The fire was considered a four-alarm fire, and several agencies worked together to extinguish it Wednesday. The cause of the fire is not known at this time.