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Today โ€” 21 November 2024Main stream

Hear from the Amazon driver who ran toward danger, saving victims of the Orion Twp. explosion

20 November 2024 at 23:19

In the aftermath of Tuesday's fiery explosion at the Keatington New Town Condominiums, thousands are talking about a mystery Amazon delivery driver who ran into the danger.

Resident Paul Kastran said, "Hes a hero. Hes the first guy who jumped in."

Young Chris Deluca told 7 News Detroit that he saw the man carry a victim out of the fire, "It was pretty heroic."

His mom Lauren Deluca said, "To go into that, not knowing if anything else was going to explode? He definitely put his life on the line."

No one knew exactly who he was, but they knew how his heroic actions made them feel.

Young Leighton Mcameer said, "My mom had to run back in and get her purse, and the Amazon person was standing right there and I was crying because I was really scared and then he came over and held my hand and told me it would all be okay."

After a day of searching, 7 News Detroit did find the hero.

Too humble to go on camera, Christopher Bissonnette agreed to talk over the phone. He shared that he was delivering packages to the neighborhood when he saw the explosion around 7 p.m. Tuesday. He looked up and saw an older gentleman, clothes half-burned off, standing in the middle of the disaster.

Chopper video shows aftermath of explosion at Orion Township condo complex

"I moved some debris around and picked him up by one leg, grabbed his back and carried him out of there and got him to the side of the curb," said Bissonnette. "Then I ran around trying to help the other lady."

Bissonnette said he does remember seeing Leighton Mcameer, "Her brother and her were standing there in the middle of the yard, and she goes Im so scared Im like Come here, come here, I got you.'"

After making sure everyone was okay, he said he tried to drive off unnoticed, "Thats when the other residents saw me and started talking to me. I told them what happened and they started calling me a hero."

When asked how that made him feel, he responded, "Awkward, I didnt know how to accept it, and it felt weird."

However, extremely deserving.

A day later Bissonnette, like many of the residents, is still working through the catastrophe that happened at the condominiums.

In the end, he said he simply did what he knew was right.

"God keeps putting me in weird conditions, the right spots I guess," said Bissonnette.

Where Your Voice Matters
Yesterday โ€” 20 November 2024Main stream

Elderly Detroit woman saved from home fire, now without a place to live before the holidays

19 November 2024 at 23:13

A Detroit family sprang into action to save their elderly neighbor after a fire broke out inside her home early Tuesday morning.

The fire happened around 3:30 a.m. on the city's east side on Hickory Street near Linnhurst Street, which is near Gratiot Avenue and 7 Mile Road.

Jennae Williams, who lives on Hickory Street, told 7 News Detroit she woke up to the smell of heavy smoke. Then, she looked outside.

"I heard someone screaming help me. Help me! Im screaming at my brother like we have to help. We have to help! He wakes up out of his sleep. We run over here and shes almost out the door, but we literally had to pick her up and get her out of the house," Williams said.

Williams said her and her brother were able to carry their neighbor, 90-year-old Miss. Louise Harris, out of her home and to safety.

Detroit firefighters took the elderly woman to the hospital to be checked out.

Demetrious Washington lives across the street and told us that Miss. Harris has lived there since 1974.

"We all look out for Miss. Harris," Washington said. "Everybody knew her, she looked out for the community, she loved the kids, she loved everybody, shes a beautiful woman."

The majority of the damage to Miss Harris' house is on the back of it, but it does not appear livable.

The Detroit Fire Department said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Norma Black attends Galilee Missionary Baptist Church with the victim and said Tuesday afternoon that Miss. Harris is physically unharmed.

"Shes tired and shes resting. Shes still feisty and she was thanking everyone for what theyve done for her," Black said.

Black also said that Miss. Harris has nowhere to go when she leaves the hospital.

"The house is not livable, so were looking for somewhere for her to reside," Black said.

Without a home right before the holidays is a heartbreaking situation but together, the many who know and love Miss. Harris say they will work to ensure that she is safe.

"I think thats what neighbors are for we all gotta have each others backs," Williams said.

Before yesterdayMain stream

'Kintsugi Village,' a childhood center, space for artists and community, planned for Corktown

18 November 2024 at 23:59

On Monday afternoon, Hamsa Daher showed us around the building that was St. Vincent Middle School in Detroit's Corktown.

It's the building she and her co-founder Paul Spiegelman are now working to turn into Kintsugi Village.

"This is going to be a community hub," Daher explained.

Kintsugi Village is a nonprofit.

Daher told 7 News Detroit that the first floor of the building will be an early childhood education center for 3-year-olds to 5-year-olds.

The second floor will be home to an artist incubator and a retreat center.

"It will be a collaborative sort of space, so well have a residency program that will support up and coming artists, where they can hone their skills and also learn the business side of things," Daher said.

The third floor is planned to be an event space and have a culinary kitchen.

Daher said the idea is that those working and learning on each of the floors will co-exist and support each other.

"So the kitchen will serve food for the kiddos at the school. It will also serve food for any groups in the building," Daher said.

Bobby Jones lives next door to the building and told 7 News Detroit, "Our neighborhood's really cool, but especially for people who have lived here a long time, there isnt a whole lot of important community things that youd expect to have."

It's because of this that Jones said he's really excited about the building concept.

"Its going to be really awesome. You wouldnt think it, but there is a lot of children in this neighborhood, so its going to be a good benefit," Jones said.

Longtime Detroiter Nadia told 7 News Detroit she enjoyed the idea of the artist incubator.

"As an artist, we like having those safe spaces because a lot of times, we feel like we have to go abroad to those spaces," she said.

Daher said Corktown community members have informed her that parking has become a problem since the Detroit neighborhood has spiked in growth. For this reason Daher said Kintsugi Village will have on-site parking, as well as a greenhouse and community garden.

"Thats really an opportunity to invite the community in, so they feel like this is all sort of theirs and they can participate in that," Daher said.

Kintsugi is a Japanese art, which means to join with gold, to piece broken shards together again and create a more beautiful object.

That's exactly what Daher hopes to do with Kintsugi Village.

"Detroit has been through a lot and is resilient but when we all come together, were stronger, were much more supportive of each other and thats really the metaphor for this sort of work we are doing here," Daher said.

Kintsugi Village's childhood center is planned to open in September 2025. Daher said the second and third floor will open in the months that follow.

They plan to hold a Corktown community meeting on Dec. 2 to show the community their plans and hear any ideas.

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