United States (Michigan) - A Warren resale store is a total loss after an overnight fire ripped through the building. The Resale Warehouse at 4243 Ten Mile, at Ryan, had heavy smoke billowing from the roof and walls of the building when firefighters arrived, Warren Fire Department Commissioner Wilburt (Skip) McAdams said today.

"We declared the fire defensive approximately 20 minutes into the fire," McAdams said. "The rear wall of the building was bowing, so there was potential for collapse. We didn't want to risk firefighters for furniture."

McAdams said all the doors of the 5,000-square-foot store were still locked, so they knew no one was inside. Twenty-five Warren firefighters plus a crew with a ladder truck from the U.S. Army's TACOM facility in Warren kept the blaze from spreading to the Family Dollar store next door.

"The building's going to be a total loss," McAdams said. "The rest of the strip mall, including the adjacent Family Dollar, may have suffered minor smoke damage."

Two crews remained at the strip center, which was created from an old grocery store, at 6 a.m. to ensure the blaze was extinguished.

Written by Detroit Free Press

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