MSU students among those displaced in Lansing blaze

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A fire broke out Sunday night at the Trappers Cove apartment complex in Lansing, displacing more than 80 people from their homes, including many MSU students.

Trappers Cove is located southeast of MSU at the intersection of Dunckel and Jolly roads.

Alison Bono, a spokeswoman for the Mid-Michigan chapter of the American Red Cross, said at least half of the residents living in the affected building are affiliated with MSU.

The fire started at about 11:50 p.m. and was extinguished in about two-and-a-half hours, Lansing Fire Department public information officer Eric Weber said.

Of the 47 units in the building, 41 were occupied at the time of the fire.

The department has not identified a point of origin or cause for the fire, and it might take weeks for the investigation to conclude, Weber said.

No one was injured in the fire, although one resident voluntarily went to Lansing’s Sparrow Hospital because of smoke inhalation.

Human biology senior Brittany Brookshire lives in the building that caught fire. Although her apartment did not sustain fire damage, she said there is extensive water and smoke damage. She said she heard the fire alarms in her apartment going off and looked outside to see if anyone was evacuating the building.

“I didn’t see anybody going outside,” she said. “I waited a couple of minutes, and then someone came banging on my door and told me there was a fire.”

She and her 1-year-old son, Braylon, evacuated their apartment with only their coats, shoes and Brookshire’s cell phone.

“Everything is ruined,” she said. “Everything you have to get has to be new now. I didn’t have renter’s insurance, so I’m not getting covered.”

Bono said she didn’t know whether MSU is involved in helping the students displaced by the Trappers Cove fire. In an April 16 fire on Elm Place, which destroyed the home of 10 MSU students and one Lansing Community College student, the Department of Residence Life housed the students in dormitories.
Bono said that might be difficult for the department to do this time, because many of the students in Trappers Cove have spouses and/or children.

University officials were not available for comment Monday.

Brookshire said she is worried about her final exams and is trying to piece together the lecture notes she had that were recovered. She plans on discussing what she should do with her professors and the university in the coming week and gathering notes from classmates.

“That’s a lot of extra stuff I have to do,” Brookshire said. “It’s taking away from studying.”

Weber said the building was severely damaged. He said weather might have played a factor in spreading the fire, with high winds fueling flames throughout the building.

Forty Lansing firefighters were on scene to fight the blaze. Weber said more man power was needed because the parking lot in front of the building was full, forcing firefighters to drag the hoses closer to the site.

The American Red Cross is providing shelter for people displaced by the fire at Trinity Church, 3355 Dunckel Road, in Lansing. Bono said of the 80 people living in the apartment building, about 50 currently are staying at the shelter.

Those left without places to stay will be housed by the shelter until the American Red Cross can better accommodate them.

“It usually takes just a couple of days until we can figure out something better for them,” Bono said.

The American Red Cross provides shelter and basic needs for victims. Bono said anyone who wants to donate to the organization should give cash donations.

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