KENTWOOD, Mich. (WOOD) — Fire investigators in Kentwood are working to find the cause of an early Saturday morning blaze that destroyed an apartment building, sending nearly 40 residents out into the cold.
No one was injured in the fire at Wingate Apartments near 32nd Street and Shaffer Avenue. Investigators say the flames sparked in a third-floor apartment bedroom. They hope to have a determination on the cause later this week but say that so far, it looks accidental.
Resident Austin Webster salvaged what he could from his third-floor apartment, including his vinyl record collection.
“’Led Zeppelin IV,’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’s,’ ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 2’ — they all seem to be OK,” he said, sorting through some of the albums on his parents’ kitchen table. “The ceiling collapsed. Fortunately, these were under a table.”
Webster was lucky Saturday. While the fire started just a few doors down from his apartment, he wasn’t home. And while most of his belonging are gone, he has renters insurance.
“My mom used to work in insurance and ever since college, she says you need to have renters insurance,” Webster said.
Many of his neighbors were not as fortunate. The West Michigan chapter of the American Red Cross says of the nearly 40 Wingate residents they’re assisting, about 75 percent don’t have renters insurance.
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