Former Restaurant on Dort Highway in Flint Burns to the Ground

Things are looking even less appealing along Dort Highway in Flint as another building has burned to the ground.

The former American Diner Coney Island/Bill Knapps at 1871 S. Dort Hwy on Flint's south side caught on fire at roughly 9:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 13.

According to MLive, the fire was too involved for crews to safely enter the building, so firefighters worked at preventing the fire from spreading to other nearby structures, including McDonald's.

How Did the Fire Start?

It's unclear at the moment how the fire started.

While driving up Dort Highway to grab some photos of the charred building, I felt like I was in some sort of apocalyptic movie. The buildings that were once filled with life are slowly decaying away. It seems like there are more businesses closed and boarded up than there are open, especially the farther north you drive.

Even though things have been on the decline along Dort Highway for some time, I did notice something that gave me a more positive outlook on the situation. There seems to be one thing breathing new life into that part of Flint... cannabis shops.

Cannabis shops are going up everywhere and they look really nice and clean. It's so refreshing to see new buildings and businesses in a part of Flint that was almost no more.

I feel like Dort Highway would have completely died out years ago if it weren't for The Machine Shop and the amount of business that place brings to the city.