Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Firefighters work to control a massive fire on Aurora Street in downtown Ironwood as the sun rises Wednesday morning. See Page 8 for more photos.
By RICHARD JENKINS
Ironwood - A downtown Ironwood fire that destroyed two buildings Wednesday is also responsible for a loss of life.
Ironwood Public Safety Director Gregory Klecker confirmed a single fatality as the result of the early morning fire that destroyed 102 E. Aurora St. - the home of Chelsi's Corner boutique and apartments above it - and an adjoining building to the east.
"All that we have right now is one confirmed fatality. That's all we know at this point," Klecker said at a press conference mid-morning Wednesday on the corner of Aurora and Lowell streets as firefighters continued to pour water on the fire's remaining hotspots near by. He declined to comment whether the victim was a resident of the building.
Snow fencing and crime scene tape appeared around the scene Wednesday night, which Klecker explained was because the fire and death were treated as suspicious until the investigation determined whether a crime had been committed.
"We treat it as an active scene and we treat it like we would a crime scene," Klecker said.
The barriers were part of the department's efforts to ensure relevant evidence was preserved until the investigation could take place.
The city's public safety department responded to the structure fire at 3:49 a.m. Wednesday.
Three people were rescued via windows from the building's second and third floors, Klecker said in a news release issued later Wednesday.
"Our department was here and able to evacuate several individuals," Klecker said at the press conference, praising the department's quick response time. "There were lives saved in this, unfortunately we do have one fatality right now."
These three were in addition to a fourth person who was pulled from the scene but, according to the release, was pronounced dead at Aspirus Ironwood Hospital.
"Crews are still working on completely extinguishing every area of the structure effected before investigators can confirm any other victims," Klecker said in the news release.
"Right now the matter is still under investigation and we're just trying to get the fire down right now and then we're going to be moving a little bit further through the investigation later on today and tomorrow morning," Klecker said at the press conference.
He said the department is also continuing its effort to account for everyone who may have been in the building at the time of the fire.
While he didn't provide a figure for the number of units above the store, city records show nine units in the 102 E. Aurora St. building.
Klecker gave no indication regarding the potential cause of the blaze, but said Fire Marshal Brandon Snyder would be working with the Michigan State Police and potentially the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on the investigation.
"It's going to be a multi-agency investigation," Klecker said, adding it could take several days to draw any conclusions.
While he declined to make assumptions regarding the amount of damage to the neighboring buildings, 102 E. Aurora and the adjoining storefront, at 104 E. Aurora, appear to be complete losses as a result of the fire. The neighboring businesses to the two burned buildings - Chief Oil and Contrast Coffee - appeared to escape major damage.
The department is working through the process of interviewing neighboring business owners and those who may have witnessed anything around the time the fire started.
"We're just trying to gather the people that may or may not have witnessed anything," Klecker said. "I will say if anyone does have any information, they can contact the Ironwood Public Safety Department."
Those with potential information can contact the department at 906-932-1234.
Klecker praised the rapid response from both the departments and the other units - including the Hurley Fire Department, Hurley Police Department, Iron County Sheriff's Department, Beacon Ambulance, the Red Cross, Gogebic County Sheriff's Department, Michigan State Police, Gogebic County Victim Services and both Iron County and Gogebic County emergency management teams - which responded to the scene.
"Our mutual-aid agreement and the help that we get is fantastic," Klecker said, adding mutual aid "minimizes and mitigates loss."
