The Ypsilanti Courier
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Man dies in unexplained blaze
Cause of New Year's Eve fire undetermined
By Kathleen Conat, Special Writer
PUBLISHED: January 11, 2007
The cause of a fire that resulted in the death of an Ypsilanti resident cannot be determined with 100 percent accuracy, says Ypsilanti Township Fire Marshall Phillip Stachlewitz.
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Willie Charles Williams, 60, died on New Year's Eve in the fire that broke out around 8:30 p.m. on the second floor of the building at Camelot apartments. He and another man, unidentified, had moved into the apartment about a month prior.
Stachlewitz said Williams had been a heavy smoker and the fire began in the vicinity of the victim's bed, so careless smoking could not be ruled out. "But it could have been deliberately set. We just don't know and can't tell."
Stachlewitz said the call came in shortly after the fire started and was put out quickly, using less than 500 gallons of water. "There was not a lot to burn in the apartment," he said. "There were few combustibles in there."
He said Williams' roommate got out of the apartment and was not hurt. Williams, however, went into the bathroom and was found, unconscious and unresponsive, in the bathtub.
"I have no guess as to why he did not get out, too," Stachlewitz said. "He could have been disoriented due to carbon monoxide or maybe he thought he was safe in there (the bathroom.)"
No one else was injured in the blaze, although residents in other units in that section of the building were evacuated until the hallways could be cleaned out.
Williams is survived by his mother, Ophelia; two daughters, Tia and Monica; a sister, Deborah; and niece Andrea.
Kathleen Conat is a longtime Ypsilanti resident and freelance writer for The Courier. She can be reached through editor@ypsilanticourier.com.
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