Goodrich- Business was slow at Tom’s Coney Cafe on the afternoon of July 4.
So, owner Mark Nikaj decided to close up the local eatery at about 3:15 p.m., before heading home to the Lancaster Lakes Apartments in Independence Township.
‘It was the Fourth and not real busy’so we just went home,? said Claudia Nikaj, who translated for her father Mark, a native Albanian now living in Clarkston. Mark is a former Albanian cross-country runner from the city of Shkodra. Mark and his family moved to Michigan in 1999, purchasing Tom’s Coney Cafe, 8157 S. State Road, about two years ago.
The quiet holiday afternoon came to an abrupt end shortly after the family was inside their apartment.
‘I was in my bedroom, while mom and dad were in the living room,? said Claudia, ‘when an explosion shook the whole building. It sounded like a bomb went off’more than just the sound of a little firecracker.?
Following the explosion, Mark, along with his wife, Lena, ran out on the balcony that overlooks the maintenance building behind their apartment. He then ran downstairs and outside where six or seven people were standing around in the vicinity of the building now engulfed in flames.
‘I heard someone screaming from inside the burning shed, ‘Oh my God, please help me,?? said Mark. ‘Others were standing around, afraid to go in what was left of the building.?
‘I did not think twice about heading in there’so when I went in, I saw a guy sitting on the floor with his head in his hands’his back was on fire. It was really hard to see. It was very smoky in there, but I searched the room to find some kind of material to extinguish the fire. I found a cloth-like material’so I draped it over him and it put out the fire on his back and face. I could smell the gases burning in there’there was little room to move around.?
‘So I gathered him up and carried him outside. People helped me at that point.?
Once outside, others helped move the man farther away from the building as more explosions were occuring.
‘He kept screaming, ‘Oh my God’what happened? I can’t see, I can’t hear,? said Mark. ‘Other residents were moving the parked cars near the building because they were just too close. But we could not find all the keys, so some were destroyed in the other explosions that followed.?
According to a report from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, deputies, the Independence Township Fire Department, and A.T.F. Agents responded to the apartments on the reported explosion and fire at the maintenance shed. The shed was destroyed and was complicated by the combustibles in the shed. The victims were brothers and one was employed in the maintenance department of Lancaster Lakes Apartments for the past two years. The employee, Andy Impola, 31, was rescued by Mark Nikaj from the shed. Andy died last Wednesday at Hurley Hospital in Flint. His brother, Burton resident Lee Marvin Impola, is currently in serious condition at Detroit Receiving Hospital. He was initially taken to Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital in critical condition after getting out of the maintenance shed on his own.
‘If I were in that building, I would want someone to help me’I picture myself there.? said Mark.
‘We had no idea that explosives were in the building until we saw the news and they suspected bombs in the shed,? said Claudia. ‘It was less than two minutes before that building was completely gone.?
Mark was uninjured in the rescue.
‘I’d do it again,? said Mark.
‘Mark was one of the key rescuers that got Andy out of the fire,? said Greg Olrich, Independence Township Fire Marshal. ‘Eyewitness statements indicated that three men went into the fire and pulled Andy out. They gave him every chance possible to survive. There’s no doubt he would have expired in the fire. They were very courageous in the fire. Andy and his brother both had very extensive burns.?
Olrich said the investigation continues and it is believed that the brothers were building explosives. Based upon interviews, the two were in possession of and making flash powder M-series type devices i.e.:M-80’s M-200’s, Quarter Sticks inside the shed.
‘To our knowledge, none of the residents of the complex knew explosives were in the building. If anyone suspects such activity, they need to speak up. They put a lot of residents at risk.?