LIVONIA, Mich. – Mike Falahee, the owner of Marygrove Awning in Livonia, walked Local 4 through a lot of the rubble Monday and remained in surprisingly good spirits despite facing millions of dollars in repairs.
Falahee said the damage would have been far worse if it hadn’t been for a Good Samaritan called 911.
“All of this—these awnings were all destroyed during the fire and all the way up the wall,” Falahee said. “The building’s gonna require a lot of work, but we’re so fortunate because of one person who made that phone call. And if there’s any way we can find out who that is, we’d certainly appreciate it.”
We asked how he would thank them.
“First of all, we’d give them an awning,” Falahee joked. “And then, of course, we’d tell them how much we appreciate it.”
The cause of the fire Friday (Dec. 13) night is still undetermined, but firefighters’ quick response made a significant difference.
Among the wreckage, one item stood out to Falahee: an American flag, nearly destroyed by the fire, water, and debris. Yet, firefighters didn’t let it stay there.
“They picked it up and draped it over the boxes,” Falahee said, holding the damaged flag. “We gotta clean it up a little bit, but it’s an amazing feat what they did. I just love the fact that they had that much honor for the flag to pick it up and put it up above (on the boxes like that).”
Falahee had one more message for the Good Samaritan and the firefighters who saved his business:
“What a great job you did to mitigate all the issues we had in this building, and we certainly appreciate your effort,” Falahee said.
