Photo by Sherri Kolade
Dearborn firefighters battle a blaze Thursday that destroyed Fordson Cleaners, 13075 Michigan Ave.
By SHERRI KOLADE
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN — A local business caught on fire March 29, destroying the still-standing property.
While no one was injured during the blaze, three firefighters almost fell in the caving roof of Fordson Cleaners, 13075 Michigan Ave., when it caught on fire at about 6:50 p.m.
Dearborn police officers closed down the surrounding streets temporarily, as Dearborn firefighters battled the continuous blaze that left bits of clothes from the business scattered around the front of the store.
Police Officer Robert Price said the station first received a call about the fire about 6:50 p.m. adding that there is no official comment on how the fire started.
“Whenever the fire department comes out, the fire marshal or the battalion chief (will) determine if there is something that looks suspicious,” Price said.
“And they do a further investigation. The detective bureau also gets involved because it is a criminal act. (But) we haven’t gotten that far yet.”
Price added that he thinks it was either a cart that had rags or mop heads on it that might have caught on fire but there is no answer yet.
A Fordson Cleaners employees who was there at the time of the fire said she smelled something out of the ordinary and called her boss who told her to look around the building.
“We looked and the building was on fire I was thinking, ‘Get out,’ because there are a whole lot of chemicals in there,” said the employee, who withheld her name for privacy reasons. “We then called 911 and they got here in three minutes but by then the whole freaking place was on fire.”
The employee has worked at the cleaners for about three weeks. “It took me forever to find a job and now no job, I am glad I am safe, it was very unexpected,” she said.
Employees at Happy 3 Party Store across the street saw the flames.
“At first I thought it was the chimney of the building,” employee Eli Matta said. “I felt bad when I found out it was a fire. This is our neighborhood I’ve known them for a long time. They come here. I feel sad for him.”
Another employee of the store, Glenn (who did not provide his last name) said he helped the Cleaners’ employees escape.
“I told them to ‘get out of the way,’ and I wired the front doors open,” Glenn said.
Dearborn resident Abuy Bachrouche was in the area about 7:15 p.m. visiting a nearby business. As he was parking his car he saw the smoke and became curious.
“I came to see what was going on and I found out there was fire,” he said. “Luckily there was no one inside.”
(Sherri Kolade can be reached at [email protected])