8 families left displaced in Woodhaven apartment blaze

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WEB UPDATE: The city of Woodhaven is accepting donations for the eight families of their personal belongings in the apartment fire. New and gently used items as well as gift cards can be dropped off a the Woodhaven Community Center, 23101 Hall Road between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.through Friday, April 22. Donations can also be dropped off or given online at a GoFundMe created for the families. CLICK HERE to donate.

Eight families forced out of their homes after fire rips through their Woodhaven apartment complex destroying everything in its path.

Two dogs were killed but fortunately all of the people made it out alive.

Cell phone video captured the scene at the South Point Square Apartments in Woodhaven Tuesday at 9:30 p.m.

"At the time the flames weren't quite through the roof but headed that way," said Woodhaven Fire Chief Michael Clark. "We were trying to catch it before it did break through but it was too far, too much."

"Too much" is an understatement.

FOX 2: "Are you saying people were jumping out of the windows?"

"We had some reports of people jumping out of the windows," Clark said.

Amazingly, only one person suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the eight-unit complex.  Sadly, two dogs died in the fire, another dog was rescued.

"I came here hoping for the better and you know, seeing something like this, it wakes you up," said resident Eric Koch.

But what a wake up going inside. 

"The fire was intense, coming in through here you can see the demarcation line of the smoke how hot it was," Clark said. "You can see all these areas where the plaster peeled off. The ceiling was actually melted that's how intense the fire was. Very hot and moving fast."

Besides Woodhaven, firefighters from Flat Rock and Brownstown Township assisted, and the fire was out by midnight. That's fast.

"Most of their belongings are going to be ok," Clark said.

FOX 2 has been told that the apartment complex is a total loss - probably $500,000 worth of damage. But officials say that the smoke detectors there saved lives.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation. As for the residents now......

"The residents are excellent here they pitched in and the city is trying to help out the displaced tenants," Clark said.