GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Dozens of Kent County families will be picking up the pieces for the foreseeable future.
Flames broke out at Ridgewood Apartments off Woodburn in Grand Rapids near the border of Kentwood between 8 and 9 Saturday morning.
The response took dozens of firefighters, several of whom were injured in the process.
Amazingly, not a single resident was injured, thanks in part to the heroics of friends and neighbors.
Logan Holtkamp initially dismissed the strange noises he first began to pick up around 8 Saturday morning.
“I didn’t know if it was the wind,” he said. So, he fired up the coffee pot and went on with the morning routine.
Holtkamp only realized the extent of the danger in which he found himself when he moved to turn up the thermostat.
The unmistakable smell of smoke rushed up through the vent below.
“It smelled like a fire,” Holtkamp related. “I decided to call 911 and that was a blessing, because within five minutes, smoke was in our apartment and my girlfriend Alaina said we need to get out right now.”
Instead of getting himself out of harm’s way, he began frantically pounding on his neighbor’s doors.
Fire damage inside Ridgewood Apartments
“We didn’t know if there was anybody in there because some doors are locked and we couldn’t break the door down,” Holtkamp said. “We were hoping and praying that everybody got out.”
And they did; with his help, every family in the building managed to get to safety.
After assessing the situation in the parking lot, Holtkamp said he walked across the street and watched firefighters take over from a distance.
“It’s like a war scene, almost as scary,” he related. “We just saw piles of clouds, like mushroom clouds. I’d never seen something like that in my life.”
The stinging smell of smoke still lingered heavily in the mostly empty parking lot Tuesday morning as Logan and Alaina checked in with their displaced neighbors.
Temporary plywood gates had been erected to keep gawkers away and dozens of displaced families out. Strips of flashing hung from the eaves like windchimes.
Logan’s floor now belongs to the neighbor downstairs.
As the adrenaline of that morning faded, it had become abundantly clear the apartment Holtkamp intended to be a stopping point on the road to a home of their own, had instead become a stumbling block.
Fire crews allowed the couple to return to their unit for the few bits of clothing they could salvage.
Everything else – from the mundane day-to-day necessities, to personal items and treasured memories – was likely bound for a nameless dumpster somewhere.
Another stumbling block: Holtkamp’s renter’s insurance policy had been cancelled just about a month after he opted in. At the time of the interview, he still wasn’t sure why, though the implication remained crystal clear: the two would have to start from virtually square one.
“Material things, they meant a lot to us, but our lives are spared and everybody’s life in here was spared,” Holtkamp relayed. “Our lives are more important than anything. You know, it's hard to see everything burn in front of our face, but, at least nobody lost their life.”
His parents were putting them up until they could get back on their feet.
Holtkamp’s parents also launched a GoFundMe to speed-along the couple’s recovery. To donate, click here.
Temporary arrangements had also been made for the more than 30 other tenants affected, according to the Grand Rapids Fire Department.
The three firefighters injured in the response had all reported back to work at the time of publication, save for one who suffered a broken ankle. That firefighter was recovering from home, fire officials said.
Investigators remained on scene Tuesday.
View the full interview here:
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