One critical after East GR house fire

EAST GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - If not for the quick action of public safety officers and firefighters from East Grand Rapids and Grand Rapids, Kristen Marie Sternberger is not sure what the outcome would have been.

She was appreciative for the firefighters' efforts as she left the East Grand Rapids public safety building Wednesday afternoon.

About 12 hours earlier, she was standing on the roof of the home she shares with two others, waiting for rescue.

"I saw flames coming from the back of the house," Sternberger said.

There was only one way out.

"I kicked the screen out and got on the roof," she said.

An East Grand Rapids public safety officer on patrol was first on the scene at the house in the 2200 block of Lake Drive.

Despite the fact a backup crew and a fire engine had not arrived, officer Kelly Kreiner ran inside the burning house, pulling 25-year-old Jesse Gruber from the first floor.

Crews from the East Grand Rapids public safety complex, a few blocks away, plucked Sternberger from the roof when they arrived.

Sternberger and 21-year-old Colin Grenn were treated for smoke inhalation and released from Spectrum Butterworth.

Flames prevented those initial crews from getting to Grenn, who was trapped on the second floor.

As East Grand Rapids crews battled the flames, backup from the Grand Rapids Fire Department arrived and made it to the second floor to rescue Grenn.

He remains in critical condition at Spectrum Blodgett's burn unit. According to Grenn's Facebook page, he is a manager at the Big Boy restaurant in Ludington and a 2006 graduate of Onekama High School. He studied management at Davenport University and currently is a student at Grand Valley State University.

Investigators have not pinpointed a cause of the fire.

Officials from the Grand Rapids Fire Department and the Michigan State Police fire marshall's office spent the day at the home.

They plan to return Thursday.

Captain Chuck Lark from the East Grand Rapids Department of Public Safety said ambulance crews, along with firefighters, had to resuscitate one of the victims on the scene.

The fire was right in front of East Grand Rapids High School, and Lake Drive is back open at this time. It was closed during the fire.