GAYLORD - Firefighters from six departments battled a blaze Wednesday night which destroyed an historic church building converted to apartments in downtown Gaylord. Heavy ash from the fire fell over a two-block area and nearby neighbors said they could hear the sound of the building’s large stained glass windows breaking from the heat of the intense fire.

The Otsego County Fire Dept. (OCFD) responded to the structure fire at 222 S. Court Ave. around 9:47 p.m.

Four families in the four-unit apartment building were displaced.

OCFD fire chief Dave Duffield said investigators from Gaylord Michigan State Police Fire Investigation Unit were at the fire scene Thursday sifting through the rubble and indicated the cause of the fire has yet to be determined. The fire started on a porch located on the northeast side of the building, but Duffield said investigators were not able to prove or disprove the fire started as a result of someone smoking on the porch. He indicated there was no electric power in the area of the porch. Duffield said the entire building sustained heavy fire damage and is a total loss.

Otsego County Salvation Army director Ron Chavey said all four families living in the building were issued vouchers for clothing and personal care items and either lodged at area motels or, in the case of one family with four children, at a nearby church. Chavey said none of the displaced families had rental insurance, adding to an already bad situation. The building, owned by Ralph Apa of Gaylord, was insured.

Members of the First Congregational Church, located next door to the burned out wooden building, opened their doors to firefighters in need of a break from battling the fire and, working with the Salvation Army, provided coffee and food to those fighting the blaze.

Church choir director Cyndie Cole said choir practice had ended about 45 minutes prior to the start of the fire but that the Rev. Susan Webeler was still at the church and contacted church members for their help. Cole, who was one of those who returned to the church, said, “They (firefighters) had it well under control. We were a little bit worried, all it would have taken was one stray spark and the church could have caught fire.”

Duffield said the fire was brought under control around 1 a.m. and firefighters remained on the scene until around 3:30 a.m. He said all building occupants escaped the building and one tenant, who cut his hand on broken glass, was treated and released from Otsego Memorial Hospital for that injury.

The fire chief said 9-1-1 dispatch received a report of the fire from one of the building’s occupants.

Firefighters from the OCFD were assisted by the Charlton, Elmira-Warner, Vanderbilt-Corwith and Otsego Lake township fire departments. The Boyne City Fire Department and Otsego County EMS/Rescue also assisted at the scene.

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