Tenants escape Cedar Springs apartment fire

CEDAR SPRINGS -- Tenants inside an apartment home at 40 Maple Street escaped unharmed after fire ripped through their building early Monday, severely damaging the large home.

Fire crews responded at 2:55 a.m. to the home, which contained four or five apartments, Cedar Springs Fire Chief Jerry Gross said.

Fire was burning heavily in the back half of the home when firefighters arrived and crews had trouble containing the flames because of open spaces in the older home.

Firefighters eventually used a backhoe to tear down part of the backside of the home as they attacked the fire.

Gross said at least one of the residents heard a smoke detector sounding and her husband then knocked on other apartment doors to make sure everyone got out. Gross said at least five people lived in the apartments.

Caroline Clunk, a spokeswoman for the American Red Cross of Greater Grand Rapids, said her agency was helping four families, covering 10 people, displaced from the apartment home.

"Most of the renters I spoke to said they didn't have renter's insurance," Gross said.

Fire officials believe the fire started near an attached garage, but they have not determined a cause, Gross said. Because firefighters needed to tear down the home's backside, finding a cause could be difficult, he said.

Firefighters spent about five hours at the scene.

E-mail John Tunison: jtunison@grpress.com