Multiple homes lost, intersection closed in Kalamazoo fire

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Neighbors near the intersection of W Michigan Ave and Michikal St are taking stock after an early morning fire took three homes.

“I heard sirens, I saw lights flashing in my window. I didn't really think about it because I don't have a lot of them, do I?” said Meghan Riley, whose family of 5 lived in one of the homes. “But then their father came and told me we had to go out.”

Their house wasn't on fire at the time – just after 3:30 a.m. according to Riley – but it didn't last long.

“Within half an hour, the disease spread to our house and the upstairs garage was on fire,” Riley said.

Kalamazoo County Dispatch alerted the press of the fire when the road was closed around 5:45 a.m.

So far, no injuries have been reported and no human lives have been lost, although Riley tells us they were unable to find their 2 cats during their evacuation.

“My 12-year-old son is devastated,” Riley said. “They were probably hiding under the bed. We couldn't reach them.”

Our team on scene saw 3 homes damaged by the fire – at least two are total losses. Riley told us the house that started the fire had been abandoned for a while.

“These are older homes that are built with balloon frames, so the fire would immediately climb up the wall and get into the attic,” Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety Fire Marshal Scott Brooks said, explaining how the fire spread. “What we had was a fire burning in the middle of the houses.”

Crews say the remains of the buildings are too unstable to remain standing. The teardown began during our live coverage Tuesday morning.