Two Rescued From Detroit Group Home Fire

WDIV

DETROIT - Two people were rescued from a two-story burning home on Detroit's east side early Tuesday morning.

Firefighters found a 62-year-old man in the basement and a 60-year-old woman on the first floor of the home on Lakewood Drive near South Hampton after a fire broke out around 4 a.m.

Initially, the Detroit police thought the home may have been a group home or a nursing home, and were looking for the fire victim's caregiver.

The homeowner, Willie Anne Brown, returned after the fire was extinguished and told Local 4 she was not their caregiver, she just rents them rooms in her house.

"This is not a group home. That's misunderstood. It's my home. There is no health care giver missing in action," she said.

Brown said she rents the basement to the 62-year-old man who she described as a friend and agreed to look after him.

"He's a little slow and stuff and I live here. It's the agreement…I agreed to cook for him so he doesn't have anything to do with the electricity," said Brown.

A state-paid caregiver does come to the house for several hours a day to look after the 60-year-old woman, according to Brown.

Brown told Local 4 she is unemployed and out of the house early in the morning to complete training for school.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Brown said she does not have homeowner's insurance.

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