A massive apartment fire leaves 80 people homeless, damaging and destroying more than 40 units. It happened at Trapper's Cove Apartments. That's near the intersection of Jolly and Dunckel roads in Lansing. They're still trying to figure out what caused it. The flames did some major damage to the building. The roof gone in some spots, the siding melted away. It's the aftermath of an intense fire and fight. Fire forced people out of their apartments just before midnight.
Eric Weber, Lansing Fire Department: "Heavy, thick smoke billowing from the building, and then the flames as well were billowing."
Firefighters had a tough time battling 50-foot flames.
Eric Weber: "It's a taxing fire."
You can see the rooftops through an orange glow, by daylight the real damage. 80 people now homeless. Many of their things destroyed, but as bad as it looked, luckily everyone made it out OK.
Eric Weber: "It's a challenge for us, fires at midnight in bedtime hours, our initial response. That's the first thing we're thinking is rescue."
A difficult task in an apartment building.
Eric Weber: "The building is large, they're cut up, and they're hard to get to."
At one point up to 40 firefighters tried to put out the flames.
Eric Weber: "The wind was against us, the wind was blowing extremely, which probably fueled and helped this fire spread rapidly, both vertically and horizontally. It took off the roof off the building."
The department also had to fight a crowded parking lot and problems with fire hydrants. It took almost three hours to get the fire under control. The next step is figuring out what caused it.
Eric Weber: "It could take days, if not weeks to figure out the cause of this fire.
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