Updated: Coffee Pot Could Have Started Wixom Apartment Fire

The in Wixom Tuesday night could have been started by one man's coffee pot, according to Wixom Police.

Wixom Director of Public Safety Clarence Goodlein said the resident of the apartment unit where the fire started said his coffee pot started the fire, and the department is investigating this claim.

"He had a coffee pot in the bathroom which caught the shower curtain on fire. And he shoved the shower curtain in the wastebasket and the shower curtain melted and caught the rug on fire. He put that outside and it caught the hallway on fire. It flamed up once it went outside," Wixom Police Detective Sgt. Gary Hamlin told the Detroit Free Press.

The man suffered minor burns, but denied medical treatment, Goodlein told Novi Patch Tuesday night.

The fire began around 9 p.m. in The Village apartments off of Beck Road near Pontiac Trail, and smoke could be seen from miles around. Nobody was majorly injured.

Two firefighters experienced dehydration from the fire. One was taken to the hospital because they couldn't give him water by mouth and hydrate him fast enough, Goodlein said. The firefighter is fine today, he said.

The apartment building, however, appears to be in bad shape.

"On the west end of the building, the damage is pretty extensive in that of the 36 units there are 30 that are probably just about ruined from either fire, smoke or water," Goodlein said.

He said the police will likely not release the property back to the apartment complex for another 24-48 hours. At that time, the building inspector will determine whether it's safe for people to enter any part of the building.

The fire remains under investigation.

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