At least 6 Detroit firefighters hurt when roof collapses

Santiago Esparza and Tom Greenwood / The Detroit News

Detroit — At least six firefighters were injured this morning while battling a blaze in a commercial building on the city’s east side, senior Detroit fire Department officials said.

The two alarm fire at Jefferson near Dickerson caused the roof to collapse, injuring the firefighters, Detroit fire officials said.

A panicked firefighter could be heard on a police scanner asking dispatchers to send everyone available to the scene.

The injured firefighters were taken to area hospitals for care. There was no immediate word on their conditions.

“I was at the scene when the rubble from the second story fell on at least four firefighters,” said Sam Kada, whose brother owns a cellular telephone store in the building on fire. “I was screaming at them to look up, look up. Then the building fell on them.”

Kerreco Adams manages a nearby auto parts store. He said he saw a portion of the building collapse on at least six firefighters standing on a sidewalk. He said they were bloodied and disoriented by the impact of the rubble.

“There were calls of man down, man down,” Adams said. “Some of the guys weren’t moving. Some of the other guys were all bloody. You could tell they didn’t know where they were. Then all of a sudden, there were police and ambulances from everywhere. It was hard to watch. I’m praying for them.”

The building is adjacent to a vacant nine-story apartment building, and the fire sent debris onto Jefferson, blocking traffic.

Yellow smoke was billowing for the building and water poured from windows and doors as trucks pumped water through the roof to battle the flames. Flames from inside the building could be seen through windows.

Flames also were flaring as firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze. Firefighters are worried the fire will spread to adjacent structures.

sesparza@detnews.com (313) 222-2320