The celebratory fires set in Ann Arbor streets Sunday after the University of Michigan men’s basketball team’s win in the Final Four are not being investigated as crimes as of yet, police said Monday.
Ann Arbor police Lt. Renee Bush said there was only record of one couch set on fire Sunday morning in police notes from the weekend.
Officers responded at 3:25 a.m. Sunday to the intersection of White Street and McKinley Avenue for a report of a couch on fire, Bush said.
Officers found a small piece of furniture in the intersection that appeared to have been burned, but no one was in the area, Bush said. The investigation was turned over to the Ann Arbor Fire Department.
Bush said she was not aware of any criminal investigation into a possible arson.
“Not that I know of at this point,” she said. “It looks like it was turned over to the fire department for more investigation.”
Ann Arbor Fire Department officials confirmed they responded to four couch fires in the city after Saturday night’s game. Most occurred near midnight and were couches set fire in the street.
AnnArbor.com could not reach fire officials for more information Monday. Bush said there was no police record of responding to additional fires in Ann Arbor late Saturday night or early Sunday morning.
A video posted on YouTube shows revelers carrying a couch and tossing it onto an already-blazing fire while a crowd cheered. There were no injuries reported in any of the blazes Sunday morning.
Police are expecting another large crowd in Ann Arbor after Monday’s national championship game ends, Bush said. The game begins at 9:23 tonight in Atlanta.
“We’re ready for tonight,” she said.
Follow coverage of tonight's game at http://www.annarbor.com/sports/ and http://www.mlive.com/marchmadness/.
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.