Firefighters respond to a one-story commercial building fire in the1100 block of Plainfield Avenue NE, just north of Belknap Park, on May 8, 2026, in Grand Rapids.Photo: Photos from: Grand Rapids Professional Firefighters Local 366.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Grand Rapids firefighters responded quickly to a one-story commercial building fire Friday morning on the city's northeast side.
It was in the 1100 block of Plainfield Avenue, right where it merges with Division Avenue. That is just north of Belknap Park and south of Leonard Street.
The fire broke out around 9:30 a.m. The Grand Rapids Professional Firefighters 366 reported around 10 a.m. that crews were spraying water on the fire and had the bulk of it knocked down from the inside. Heavy smoke was showing when they arrived on the scene.
"We had crews on scene in less than two minutes from the time of dispatch," Grand Rapids Fire Chief Brad Brown told WOOD Radio News. "Luckily, it was only a few blocks from our training center, and we had several apparatuses at training this morning. So, we actually had 21 people there in just a few minutes. And from the time of the call until the time of the fire was three minutes."
There was no initial word on what started the fire. Brown said there was some construction work taking place inside the vacant building. He told us the front of the building was once used by SourceWell and the back was occupied by a machinery company at one time.
Some nearby roads were shut off to allow firefighters to access the site. There were no injuries.
"In less than 20 minutes, they had it under control, the fire knocked out and then transitioned to overhaul," Chief Brown said. "We had a large (number) of ceilings and walls to pull to get to hot spots. And
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