Apartment fire ‘not suspicious’

By Allison Scarbrough. OCP Editor.

SHELBY — Investigators continue to examine the scene of an apartment fire that ignited Monday evening at 80 N. Michigan Avenue, but it has been determined that the blaze is not suspicious, said Shelby-Benona Fire Chief Jack White Tuesday.

Five fire departments battled the fire for approximately three hours at a 113-year-old house converted into a four-unit apartment building. No one was injured.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, White said. A fire investigator has examined the scene, and a second investigator is slated to look at it, he said.

The building is insured, White said. One 500-square-foot back downstairs unit was destroyed, and the other three units were damaged. One unit sustained water and smoke damage, and the other two units received smoke damage, the chief said.

Two people were in the building when the fire started, White said. They were awakened by a responding police officer and safely removed. They were not in the unit that was destroyed, he said. One person was inside the upstairs apartment, and the other person occupied the downstairs front apartment, he said.