DETROIT (WWJ) - Detroit Fire officials are investigating after six people, including four children, were injured in a firebombing.
It happened just before 11 a.m. Friday at an apartment complex on Schaefer Highway, between Dix and the Fisher Freeway.
"When we got there there was a tremendous amount of fire and some injured civilians," said Detroit Fire Deputy Commissioner Dave Fornell.
He told WWJ's Michael Cohen someone threw a firebomb into an apartment unit with a family inside.
"Commonly known as a Molotov cocktail; it's a bottle of gasoline and there's a wick -- it could be a burning rag -- and your throw that, the bottle breaks, and of course whatever flammable liquid in there spreads...and it causes a very intense blaze very rapidly."
The most seriously injured was a 16-year-old girl, who suffered second and third degree burns.
"She had burns around 70 percent of her body, which is pretty serious," Fornell said. "So she's at the burn center right now and undergoing treatment. It's going to be a very painful time for her, unfortunately."
"The other children were suffering from smoke inhalation; not as serious, of course, as the 16-year-old."
Along with three younger kids, two adults were treated for smoke inhalation and minor burns. The building was also severely damaged by the fire.
There have been no arrests; and, so far, no suspects have been described.
"I don't know, you know, the motive -- if these civilians were unfortunately collateral damage or whether they were targeted," Fornell said. "I don't have that information at this point."
An investigation is ongoing.
