Fire tears through Kalamazoo apartment building

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - Fire tore through a Kalamazoo apartment building, forcing several people from their homes late Tuesday.

It happened at the Fox Ridge Apartments. The state fire marshal is on the scene Wednesday morning.

The fire broke out just before midnight. When crews got there flames were shooting out of the roof.

It took hours to get the fire under control. The building is a 30 unit apartment. Approximately one-half of the apartments in the building sustained fire, smoke and/or water damage.

We're told no one was hurt, but the building was evacuated. The American Red Cross has opened a shelter for the people displaced at nearby Hillside Middle School.

"Once I heard the police sirens going off I didn't think anything of it because we usually hear it all night anyway. I happened to look outside, saw smoke and I just screamed out and we ran outside, saw the whole top of the building in flames," said resident Chris Walden.

Police say that they found what appears to be a meth lab in the apartment where the fire started. They think that the lab is the likely cause of the fire.