DEARBORN — One man was killed and 12 others are homeless, following an apartment fire at the 2800 block of Salina Street in the southend of Dearborn.

Firefighters responded to the scene at around 4:30 a.m. on Sunday, August 23.

The man was discovered dead on the second floor by firefighters. He has been identified as 65-year-old Mohammed Shater, who resided in the building.

According to neighbors, Shater was disabled and had difficulty walking on his own.

Two other residents who attempted to escape the fire were injured and taken to the hospital. One was injured jumping out of a second floor window, in an attempt to escape the blaze.

Residents who live on Salina Street told The Arab American News the apartment building was an old structure that had long been an eyesore for the neighborhood.

The building was mostly occupied by single men, most of whom belonged to the local Yemeni American community.

Firefighters believe the fire may have started in the basement of the building, under the stairwell. Dearborn Fire Chief Joseph Murray told The Arab American News that the cause was still under investigation.

Murray said that by the time the department was alerted of the fire, it had already been long burning.

“I don’t know the actual time it started,” he said. “But for the amount of fire there was when we pulled up to the scene, it had been burning for a while.”

In the wake of the fire, residents expressed concerns that several other buildings in the area were aging and close to being neglected.

According to Murray, the fire department routinely inspects buildings to make sure they are up to fire codes. The commercial services division does inspections as well.

“We do inspect larger apartment buildings of that nature on a regular basis,” he said. “We constantly try to get into the facilities, but we can’t always account for work that has been done.”

While this might not be the case with this apartment fire, Murray said building owners often fail to follow the proper permit process implemented by the city.

“That process is there to protect the owners and occupancies of the buildings as well to ensure that work is done properly and up to code to avoid potential problems down the road,” he said. “It’s important that people have the city come in for inspections— especially when the building sells or the person is ready to sell the property— to ensure the safety of residents.”