FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. – The Country Glen Condominiums in Farmington Hills went up in flames early Sunday morning and several residents were displaced.
Harrison Kakos Jr., who was inside the complex at the time of the fire, described the heart-stopping moments. “It really looked like something out of a movie, and the heat and stench . . . it was just overpowering,” Kakos Jr. said.
His grandmother and uncle’s home caught fire around 5:43 a.m. “It was a big inferno. You could feel the heat just radiating off of it,” Kakos Jr. said.
His father, Harrison Kakos Sr., was on the scene as well. “I couldn’t believe how many fire trucks I saw and police squad cars. The fire was gigantic. I was astounded to see that. I couldn’t believe it. And I was so worried that there were probably still some people inside, but fortunately, it seemed like everyone was out,” Kakos Sr. said.
A video taken by Kakos Jr. showed the fire had devoured an entire portion of the complex, with a large amount of water used by the responding fire departments showing the severity of the situation.
“The force of the water pressure was at a level where it was knocking things off within the structure to the point where I thought it was maybe going to collapse because of how pieces were just falling away. Just big chunks,” Kakos Jr. said.
The Farmington Hills Fire Department is now investigating the source of the fire.