Lansing firefighters bring apartment blaze under control

UPDATED 3:30 A.M. -- LANSING -- Residents from as many as 41 apartments were displaced after a fire broke out at the Trappers Cove apartments on Jolly Road in south Lansing early this morning.
Parts of the roof collapsed on the three-story apartment building that caught fire about midnight.
Firefighters had the blaze under control by about 2:30 a.m. and were continuing to extinguish small pockets of fire as of 3:15 a.m., said Eric Weber, public information officer for the Lansing Fire Department.
Weber said at least 75 percent of the building was involved, causing severe damage, and winds added to the challenge of containing the blaze.
At 2 a.m. American Red Cross officials said they were planning to open a shelter, volunteer Tyler Vickers said, but it was unclear where. He said he wasn't sure exactly how many residents had been displaced.
Vickers lives in a neighboring building and said he was awoken by the flames.
Officials from the apartment management company, Edward Rose & Sons, were talking with residents to find available units within the apartment complex.
Brittany Brookshire sat in the apartment clubhouse at about 2 a.m., worrying about getting diapers for her one-year-old son as he lay wrapped in a fleece blanket.
Brookshire, 23, was taking an online quiz for her nursing class at Michigan State University when she heard the fire alarm. She grabbed her sleeping son, Braylon, and her cell phone. She thought about going back to grab her purse, but knew it wasn't safe.
"I gotta go get diapers and all that stuff," she said. "I don't have anything."
Brookshire said she planned to stay at her boyfriend's place for the night, and her mother was planning to come help.
"I've got finals next week, so it's just really bad timing," she said.
MSU student Shengnan Xie was working on her final presentation to defend her PhD thesis when she heard yelling and saw her neighbor's first floor apartment on fire, she said.
Xie, 27, said she grabbed her computer with her chemical engineering presentation on it, since it's due in a week.
"My apartment wasn't on fire. That gives me great relief," she said. "Hopefully I can rescue something after the daybreak."
Check www.lsj.com for updates.
UPDATED 2:30 A.M. -- LANSING -- Red Cross officials on the scene of a fire at the Trappers Cove apartments off Jolly Road in south Lansing estimate as many as 47 units have been damaged by fire, smoke or water.
At 2 a.m. Red Cross officials said there were planning to open a shelter, volunteer Tyler Vickers said, but it was unclear where. It was unclear exactly how many residents the fire had displaced.
Vickers lives in a neighboring building and said he was awoken by the flames.
At 2:30 a.m., flames remained visible from the three-story apartment building that has been burning since about midnight, and the roof appeared to be collapsing.
Check www.lsj.com for updates.
UPDATED 2 A.M. -- LANSING -- Firefighters are continuing to battle a blaze in a three-story apartment building at the Trappers Cove apartments off Jolly Road in south Lansing.
Fire officials initially entered the building where the fire started around midnight, but have since fallen back and are fighting the fire from a defensive position, officials on the scene said.
Fire officials said 75 percent of the building is involved, causing severe damage, and winds have added to the challenge of battling the blaze, officials said.
The building is believed to have 24 apartments, and flames remain visible from the third floor.
The Red Cross is on the scene assisting residents.
The apartment complex is located just west of US-127 and north of Jolly Road.
Check www.lsj.com for updates.
UPDATED 12:45 A.M. -- LANSING -- Lansing firefighters are battling a large apartment building fire in the 3100 block of Trappers Cove.
Officials say a multiple unit building is on fire.
Check www.lsj.com for updates. http://bit.ly/bVGcdq