By Jessica Mathews/News@whmi.com


Crews battled a blaze at a condo complex in Howell Thursday afternoon that left more than a dozen people displaced.

The Howell Area Fire Department responded around 4pm to Golden Triangle condos off M-59. Chief Andy Pless says a resident was cooking potatoes on the stove and caused a grease fire. He says upon arrival, about 50% of the second-floor unit was on fire and spreading to the floor above it in the walls. Pless says there was quite a bit of damage and half of the building can’t be occupied, so six units were lost and people displaced because of the smoke.
Everyone made it out safely and there were no injuries involved, although a dog and two cats perished.

Pless says around 15 people from the building have been displaced between the six units and they’re being assisted by the complex management company and the American Red Cross. Pless says a man on the third floor above the fire was trapped on his balcony and couldn’t make it out so crews rescued him. He added that it was a pretty good working fire and crews made a great stop. While there’s still a lot of damage form the fire and smoke, Pless said it could have been a lot worse.

Multiple units were on scene, including Livingston County EMS, DART and Howell Police. The Brighton Area Fire Department covered other calls that came in for the Howell Department.