Massive Mich. Apartment Fire Likely Started By...Someone Preparing a Squirrel for Dinner With a Blow Torch

HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (TheBlaze/AP) -- Authorities say a blaze that displaced dozens of people from a southwest Michigan apartment complex may have been sparked by a resident trying to cook a squirrel with a propane torch.

The Lansing State Journal leaves little doubt, however, about the cause:

Investigators say a person torching the fur off a squirrel started a fire that destroyed a Holland Township apartment building Wednesday afternoon.

Holland Township firefighters determined the fire started when a resident was using a propane torch to remove a squirrel's fur. The person planned to eat the squirrel.

Fire Chief Jim Kohsel tells MLive.com that the resident apparently planned to eat the animal and was burning off its fur on a third-floor deck at the building in Ottawa County's Holland Township when the fire broke out Wednesday. Flames spread to the roof. Kohsel says eight apartments are destroyed and others damaged.

The resident's name wasn't immediately released.

Kohsel says a firefighter broke a toe. No residents were injured.

Resident Tiffany Camburn told The Holland Sentinel that she and her neighbors had to evacuate their apartments.

The American Red Cross arranged temporary shelter and clothing for displaced residents.

(H/T: Fark)