RIVER ROUGE, Mich. (WXYZ) — River Rouge firefighters say flames broke out at a home on Maple Street near Genessee just before 10 a.m. Saturday.
Crews from Ecorse, Wyandotte, Lincoln Park and Allen Park all responded within minutes.
“Woke up with fire alarm system going off. We went into the living room and my cell phone was on fire in the living room,” said Joyce Butler who lives in the home where the fire began.
“It became overwhelming and we had to call the fire department to come out.”
Butler recalls the frightening moments she and her family knew they had to get out.
She says a small child needed help to make it out through a window.
“Grandson broke his leg. We had to carry him and throw him out the window,” Butler said.
Firefighters also removed two urns containing the ashes of loved ones.
Although firefighters contained the scene that included two homes, Joyce tells us she doesn’t know where to go from here.
“We have no home. Clothes. Nothing. What you see here is all we have. It’s just us now. That was our only home or refuge,” she said.
Together, with her daughter and grandchildren, they’ve setup a GoFundMe to ask for help. Her message is still one of gratitude to firefighters who put their own safety at risk to help.
“I’m glad we’re all alive. Firemen went back in for my son and grandson’s urns. They went back in and saved the urns,” she said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
If you’d like to help the Butler family, click here.
