Man dies in Van Buren Township mobile home fire

Neighbors said they thought it was a shootout, hearing billets go off in the fire.

VAN BUREN TWP., Mich. (WJBK) - Two people made it out of a Van Buren Township mobile home fire safely, but a third died in the blaze.

"I thought it was a shoot-out, due to all the popping," Tyler, a neighbor to the house, said."

Once he went outside, he realized it was a fire, and started recording video of the blaze.

Tyler said it was "very hot," and "very scary.

A man who lived there with his caregiver and daughter died. The other two managed to escape just prior to 6:30 a.m.

"He was like a father figure to a lot of us growing up," Tyler said.

Van Buren Township Fire Chief David McInally said the victim wasn’t "very ambulatory" and had recently been released from a medical facility.

McInally said that a large amount of ammunition caused delays in putting out the fire.

The mobile home after the fire was put out.