Belleville fire fighters respond to Co-op fire, homeless man’s shelter

Residents of the Belleville Co-op apartments, 575 Sumpter Road, had a meeting on Monday to discuss the stove fire on the third floor Friday that led to water damage in six to seven apartments.
Residents said that since many of them are now getting mail saying they are in Van Buren Township, the VBT Fire Department should be covering their apartment structure, since it is just down the road on their side of the railroad tracks.
The Co-op is located within the city of Belleville and the Belleville Fire Department put out the fire, after a slight delay, according to a resident. A spokesman for the fire department was unavailable for comment.
Also on Friday, at about 7:30 p.m., Belleville fire fighters were called to a fire in the makeshift structure in the woods behind the Sumpter Road carwash that houses a homeless man. Michael Wright told fire fighters he had been gone since 7 a.m. that day and was gone all day. The fire destroyed everything.
Wright said he had run some kids off recently, but fire fighters are unsure of what caused the blaze.