DETROIT – A 53-year-old man died Thursday morning in a fire at the Leland apartments in Downtown Detroit.
Fire officials said the fire was contained to one unit on the 10th floor of the 22-story apartment building located at Bagley Street and Cass Avenue.
The fire appears to be accidental, said investigators from the Detroit Fire Department. The victim possibly was smoking in bed. No other injuries were reported.
"Very dangerous situation. When you're smoking, you want to avoid smoking in bed because when you fall asleep the cigarette just falls out of your hand, right into the mattress. It doesn't immediately burst into flames. It can smolder up to 5 hours. You can imagine what kind of deep sleep you would be in," said fire Cpt. Chris Dixon.
The 9th, 10th and 11th floors were all evacuated due to water damage. Only eight residents had to evacuate from the building. They have been let back inside.
From January: Detroit's historic Leland Hotel to get $120 million renovation
In January, a $120 million renovation project was announced for the building once known as the Leland Hotel. The renovations included more than 300 apartments, retail space and a parking deck.
Built in 1927, the Leland Hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 20, 2005.