Woman pulled from Southfield apartment fire

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – Firefighters pulled a 69-year-old woman from a fire Friday afternoon at the Chatsford Manor apartment complex near 12 Mile and Lahser roads.

Firefighters were on the roof and balconies at the apartments. They appeared to contain the flames, but several units sustained damage. At least 16 units sustained smoke damage.

It started in the woman's kitchen. It severely damaged the unit directly above.

"It was a big fire. It was hot and big right away," said Southfield Fire Chief Keith Rowley. "Our guys were spent because, as with most departments, the manning is down right now and they've been working a long time. They worked long and hard to get this out. It did spread up into a second story apartment, and up into the attic a little bit. They put up the tower truck, as you see. I want to tank Royal Oak fire who came over with mutual aid and assisted us with the fire."

The woman was taken to a hospital. Her condition is not known at this time.

No other injuries have been reported.

"Luckily nobody else was else. Unfortunately we have one fire victim," said Rowley.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.