Fire wrecks Habitat for Humanity center

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (WOOD) - A Battle Creek non-profit organization will work to rebuild one of its office building after a fire destroyed it Sunday afternoon.

The Battle Creek Fire Department received a call from a passerby around 12:30 p.m. regarding the Habitat for Humanity ReStore building at 551 W. Michigan Ave.

Chief Larry Hausman told 24 Hour News 8 the first firefighters arrived at the scene within a minute, but the fire had already engulfed the building.

Hausman did not know when or how the fire started.  

No employees were working in the organization's offices or its discount home improvement store ReStore. No one was injured.

"We're very fortunate no one was in the building because it would have been very hard for them to get out," said Chief Hausman.

The building where Habitat for Humanity houses its supplies across the street from the building that caught fire was not damaged.

The three homes that the agency has already started constructing will still be completed without delay.  

"This is gonna be a thing where we are going to have to make a lot of plans as far as moving forward," said Joe Konrad, the executive director of the Battle Creek Area Habitat for Humanity. "We have a meeting tomorrow [Monday] as far as all of those things that we need to do logistically. There's a lot of contacts we need to make to make sure that we are going to move forward logistically."

Konrad would not estimate a cost of the damages from Sunday's fire.

Firefighters spent about two hours dousing the flames, and about another two hours extinguishing all the hotspots. The department put about 250,000 gallons of water on the building. Chief Hausman said half of the building was damaged by water and the other half by fire. He added that the fire definitely was not caused by foul play.   

"They've been kind of a mainstay in our community, and it's kind of sad to see this happen, but I'm sure they will rebuild and rebound," said Hausman.  

Konrad said that is what the agency is hoping will happen, but he did point out realities; like the fact the ReStore, a major source of funding that usually raises between $30,000 and $50,000 a month, will likely be closed for awhile.  

"ReStore of course though is a big issue," said Konrad. "It funds a lot of the things we do as far as our projects go, and we are going to need to make sure that that either comes back online as quick as possible or some other funding is going to have to be found. I think that this will be a little bit of a setback for us but I think we'll actually come back bigger and better than ever."

The state fire marshal will inspect the building and start the process of determining a cause.  

Konrad said he hopes by Monday their agency will have a website or phone number set up for people who wish to donate funds and resources to help rebuild the community mainstay.

"Despite this challenge, we remain open and committed to meeting our mission," said Vicki VanDenBerg, board chair of Battle Creek Area Habitat for Humanity in a news release. "This has been, and will continue to be, a strong and resilient organization."

"We have already received several inquiries from people wondering how they can help, and we are extremely grateful for the interest, prayers and volunteers that have stepped forward to help," added Konrad in that statement. "What we need right now are financial contributions to help us fund operations until our ReStore is once again open for business. Anyone interested in making financial contribution can do so online at http://www.habitatbc.org/pledge_or_donate.html.

"We will let the public know as soon as we are ready to once again accept merchandise donations for our ReStore. But, rest assured, we will keep building and rehabbing houses and continuing to serve our community."

Battle Creek Area Habitat for Humanity will have temporary administrative offices at the United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region office at 34 W. Jackson St. in Battle Creek, effective Nov. 7. The construction offices will be temporarily located across the street from the main building at 551 W. Michigan Ave.

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