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Fire damages Eminem’s boyhood home

The Columbian
Published: November 7, 2013, 4:00pm

DETROIT — Water still dripped Friday from the charred rafters of the boyhood home of Detroit-area rapper Eminem, after a fire Thursday burned the boarded-up bungalow pictured on the musician’s latest LP, “The Marshall Mathers LP 2.”

The Detroit Fire Department responded to the blaze in the 19900 block of Dresden Street, just south of 8 Mile, at 6:20 p.m. EST Thursday, Senior Chief Jack Wiley said. A cause has not been determined.

Fan Matt Toporek, 21, of Harper Woods, Mich., said the abandoned home’s front door was open two days ago when he visited the house, but the inside was intact.

Friday, the inside was a charred mess. The ceiling between the first and second floors is burned away. Soot stains the exterior above the windows.

“Just went inside and everything was burnt down; two days ago, it was fine — depressing,” Toporek said. “I don’t know who does this, but this is a Detroit legend. Depressing.”

When crews from Engine 60 arrived Thursday evening, fire was coming out a window on the second floor of the two-story bungalow, according to a firefighter at the scene. Firefighters were able to put out the blaze, which destroyed portions of the top floor. The fire department did not have any information on a cause today.

The home on Dresden, originally pictured on the cover of his 2000 release, The Marshall Mathers LP, was most recently owned by the Michigan Land Bank. The government program that manages vacant properties – including 11,000 in Detroit – was auctioning the property, with minimum bids starting at $1. The home was listed on the land bank website Friday, but its status was unclear.

According to public records, Deborah Mathers bought the house in 1987 for $19,900, agreeing to pay the couple who owned it $3,000 down and $220 a month. In 1994, the couple issued a deed to Mathers, who on the same day signed the deed over to Ann Investment. The property changed hands about 10 times before the Wayne County Treasurer’s Office foreclosed for non-payment of taxes in 2001. A company listed as EM & UU Properties bought the house for $1 in 2009 before it was abandoned. After the house failed to sell for $500 at a Wayne County Treasurer’s Office auction, it was turned over to the Land Bank.

The website Zillow.com lists the worth of the 767-square-foot bungalow on a 40-foot by 120-foot lot at $32,885.

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