GRAND RAPIDS TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Two people were hospitalized after they were injured in a fire Wednesday night northeast of Grand Rapids.

When firefighters arrived at the fire in a detached garage on 4 Mile Road between Hoag Avenue and Bluewater Pines Drive in Grand Rapids Township, a man and a woman had already escaped. They were both injured in the fire, according to Grand Rapids Township Chief Luke Werdon.

He said crews worked throughout the night until around 8 a.m. Thursday.

“They had some assistance from Kent County. They brought over an excavator to help us dig. The building had collapsed on itself, so getting to some of the fire that was underneath layers and layers of all of this material was really difficult,” Werdon said.

Neighbors said they heard loud banging sounds — something the fire chief says is not uncommon. 

“It’s likely that there are small containers, so people keep propane in their garages, gas containers, all of that sort of stuff and I suspect that that was a very similar situation,” Werdon said.

Firefighters also had challenges trying to keep the fire from spreading.

“The building that was burning was in close proximity to the home and it was such a large fire that it was on the edge of lighting the home on fire so we had to focus on protecting that structure,” Werdon said. 

The fire chief did not have an update on the man and woman’s condition and said they may never know exactly what started the fire.

“The cause is likely going to be undetermined due to the extent of the fire. It destroyed a lot of the evidence,” Werdon said.

It is unclear what caused the fire. Crews from Alpine, Sparta, Plainfield, Grand Rapids and Ada townships as well as the Grand Rapids Fire Department came to help put it out.