Firefighter Injured At Abandoned Detroit East Side Commercial Building Fire - 02.11.2014

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) – At least one firefighter has been hurt while battling a blaze in an abandoned commercial building on Detroit’s east side.

Detroit police and fire officials at the scene say no firefighters ever were inside the massive six-story building.

Wayne Gilbert lives in a loft a block away from the fire and tells WWJ’s Sandra McNeill that he, his wife and their dog, were home when the fire ignited.

“There were like four or five of them (explosions),” said .”Just like one after the other and then debris started falling everywhere.”

The thundering noise frightened his wife, “she didn’t handle it very well,” he said.

The firefighter was injured when the north wall of the building collapsed, he was taken to an area hospital and is expected to be alright.

Flames could be seen from multiple areas inside the structure and thick, black smoke was visible from several miles away.

DETROIT, MI (Detroit  Free Press) - A Detroit firefighter was injured Tuesday as he tried to escape a collapsing wall during a fire that raged for hours at a sprawling former auto plant on the city’s east side.

Fire officials said parts of the building on Farnsworth near East Warren Avenue and I-75 have been burning for days, and it was unclear whether the blaze was new or rekindling.

A firefighter injured his leg, neck and back when he jumped off an aerial ladder turntable on the top of a fire truck as a nearby two-story wall started to collapse, Senior Fire Chief Jack Wiley said. The firefighter was taken to a hospital. His injuries were not believed to be serious, Wiley said. The wall missed the truck.

Firefighters were called to the scene about 3:30 p.m. Thick, dark smoke could been rising from as far away as Royal Oak.

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(The usual disclaimers: I am not a journalist; This is a blog that expresses an outlook and is not conclusive in any shape or manner.)