City Council approves all mayor's re-appointments
Jun. 16, 2010 · 3:42 a.m.
After much procedure, Ypsilanti City Council approved six mayoral re-appointments to city boards and committees Tuesday, including the two postponed from earlier...read more
Council postpones two reappointments
Jun. 4, 2010 · 4:57 p.m.
Two of Ypsilanti's volunteer board members were not reappointed on schedule Tuesday night, owing to a 4-2 vote by City Council to delay the appointments until...read more
Downtown properties to be rehabilitated
Jun. 4, 2010 · 10:40 a.m.
Three recently-vacated properties in downtown Ypsilanti, two of them condemned, will soon be renovated owing to recent purchase by a local development company and...read more
Ypsilanti Township authorizes litigation against Liberty Square
May. 28, 2010 · 6:53 p.m.
Residents living in the Liberty Square complex of townhouses will see a sticker appear on their homes Tuesday, when the Ypsilanti Township Building Department places...read more
Ford plant granted tax exemption by township
May. 24, 2010 · 5:44 p.m.
New machines and equipment will soon be wheeled into Ford's Rawsonville Plant in Ypsilanti Township as it begins manufacturing a line of batteries for the new global...read more
All that stands after a devastating fire in the Thompson Block in Depot Town this morning.
Five fire departments battle blaze for hours
Sep. 23, 2009 · 8:30 a.m.
-Updated at 2:00 p.m.-
The Thompson Block in Depot Town is completely destroyed by a fire that started at 1:38 a.m., according to the Ypsilanti Fire Department.
It took firefighters from five different departments approximately six hours to completely put out the blaze this morning, with hidden hot spots still a problem until recently.
Ypsilanti firefighters had help from Ann Arbor, Pittsfield, Superior, and Ypsilanti Township departments this morning.
Captain Max Anthouard said the cause of the fire is not known. He said the cause may never be known as the structure of the building is not stable enough to investigate at the moment.
Later in the morning, Ypsilanti Fire Inspector John Roe said the department will conduct an investigation, which could be complete as early as next week.
Anthouard said the fire likely started on the second floor of the building. When firefighters arrived, he said the fire was completely on the second floor. Because the building had been in redevelopment, firefighters had to use a ladder to get to the second floor from the first.
“They were just stepping on the second floor when the roof collapsed,” Anthouard said.
Firefighters had to battle the blaze from the outside of the building from that point on.
No injuries were reported and no other buildings had been damaged by the fire, Ypsilanti Fire Department officials said.
The buildings owner, local developer Stewart Beal, had no comment this morning. A foam support for the façade was being applied this morning, as he is trying to save as much of the building’s façade as possible.
Built in 1861 as a civil war barracks, Beal came into ownership of the building after a lengthy court battle between the city of Ypsilanti and former owner David Kircher, who is currently in prison on unrelated sewage dumping charges.
Beal had been attempting to redevelop the historic building, but had long been stalled due to trouble securing a loan.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect recent comments made by Ypsilanti Fire Inspector John Roe after the article was originally published.
Related article:
Beal responds to Thompson Block fire
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