A fire at The Village at Chandler Crossings apartments in Bath Township displaced 46 residents Saturday night, and investigators say they have determined what caused it.
- A fire at The Village at Chandler Crossings apartments in Bath Township displaced 46 residents Saturday night.
- Investigators say a resident carelessly discarded a cigarette on a balcony, causing the fire.
- No injuries were reported, but residents including MSU student Felipe Pena lost nearly all of their belongings.
WATCH: Bath Township apartment fire displaces 46 residents
Investigators believe a resident carelessly discarded a cigarette on a balcony, igniting the blaze.
"One of the residents had admitted to careless discarding of a cigarette out on his balcony and that's what unfortunately caused the fire," Bath Township Fire Chief Mark Koonter said.
No injuries were reported.
Among those displaced was Felipe Pena, a student at Michigan State University who had just finished his first year of college when the fire forced him out of his apartment and back home with his parents.
"My whole roof is gone basically. We lived on the third floor, me and my roommate. The whole roof is gone," Pena said in a TikTok video that's garnered more than 40,000 views.
The damage was extensive for Pena and his roommates, who say they lost nearly everything.
"My belongings, my life… everything that I had there was gone in a matter of minutes to an hour," Pena said.
For Pena, the loss goes beyond material possessions.
"A lot of the stuff doesn't have a price to it. It's all memories from our childhood. We had so much there. Everything we cared for was there," Pena said.
In the days since the fire, Pena said the experience has taken a significant toll.
"These past couple of days I haven't been able to sleep, eat at all. I've just been running around all day trying to get things situated at least for the time being," Pena said.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help Pena and his roommate as they work to recover from their losses.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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