11 people escape house fire

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Investigators are looking into the cause of a fire that drove 11 family members out into the cold.

The fire was reported around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday in the 700 block of Sixth Street NW.

One of the home's renters told 24 Hour News 8 she was sleeping on the couch in the living room when something came through a window and ignited the front portion of the residence.

"It's so crazy," said Thomas Mena, who was one of the people inside the home when the smoke alarms went off. "It happened so quick."

A woman, her three daughters, a son-in-law and six grandchildren were all in the home when the fire started.

Mena said smoke detectors woke everyone up, which allowed them to escape safely.

"The only thing I remember is getting up. I was sleeping downstairs. And they said there was a fire and something came through the window and other than that, I don't know what happened," Mena told 24 Hour News 8.

Others in the home talked of gang activity. Grand Rapids police confirm there is bad blood between people in the home that caught fire and residents of another home in the neighborhood.

"There's been a lot of stuff that's been going around. Police always getting called. People always over here. Just a lot of drama always coming around," said Mena.

But GRFD investigators say it's too soon to tell if this fire was intentional. They said the heat from the fire could explain why the window broke. But they're not ruling anything in or out, saying the cause remains under investigation.

Now, the Mena family is left to pick up the pieces. The family, which does not have renters insurance, said it has a temporary place to stay.

"It's just so quick. It happened too quick, so fast. I just...It's so crazy. It's our house. We got nothing else," Mena said.

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Hours after putting out the fire, GRFD crews were back at the scene. This time, their efforts were aimed at preventing a fire instead of putting it out. Crews from Engine 3 on Bridge Street went door to door, handing out fire safety information.

It's something firefighters throughout the city do after a serious fire in the neighborhood as a way to get residents to think fire safety.