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Detroit firefighters say downed electrical wires and high winds are responsible for a sudden rash of fires that burned dozens of homes on the city’s east side Tuesday afternoon.
No injuries or fatalities were reported, but the flames burned 85 homes, including 18 that were vacant, the Detroit Free Press reported. As many as 50,000 people were left without electricity. Wind gusts of up to 50 m.p.h. were responsible for spreading the flames, according to the National Weather Service.
One resident, Louvenia Wallace, 31, told the Free Press she and her children fled their neighborhood and had to stay at a nearby home in a safe area. “It was like blankets of smoke everywhere and the next thing I know everybody’s house was in fire.”