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Friday, August 29, 2008 | Archives |
FeedsFire ravages 3 upscale homes
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The fire completely destroyed one of the homes, which was under construction. Photo by Jeff NovakOfficials in Northville Township are still trying to determine what caused a fire that started at a residential construction site and consumed three homes in Northville Township on Monday.
Northville Township Fire Chief Bill Zhmendak said the department received a call at about 3 p.m. on Monday afternoon from homeowners at the Parkshore section of the Stonewater subdivision, which is off Six Mile Road just west of Beck Road.
“The whole thing was on fire,” said one resident, who didn’t want to be named. “You couldn’t see anything, just a big orange ball of fire.”
Mike Roth, who lives next door to one of the fire-ravaged homes, may have been one of the first to call in. He said he was home at about 3 p.m. when a neighbor said they smelled smoke coming from the middle house, which was still under construction.
“Kathy (Roth’s wife) and I went down and walked around,” he said. “We saw some smoke and then, 15 minutes later a big wind rose up and the whole thing was engulfed.
“There was no explosion,” he added, “just a big fireball. The wind was so strong it lit the other two houses on fire. It was horrible.”
Roth said he immediately dialed 911, but by then the flames had taken grip of the luxury home.
“There was heavy smoke in the air already,” Zhmendak said. “We saw it as soon as we left the station and we dialed in for mutual aid.”
Assistance came from the Plymouth Community Fire Department, the City of Northville Fire Department and the Livonia Fire Department.
Township Manager Chip Snider said safety requirements virtually guaranteed the need for help from other agencies.
“When large events like this happen, you need mutual aid from other communities,” he said.
When firefighters arrived, they faced two enemies: the fire itself and the strong winds that blew the flames in irregular patterns.
“The fire changed the wind direction,” Zhmendak said. “Between that and the big open space behind it, you get a strong breeze blowing through here.” The homes were located on a man-made lake.
Zhmendak said the first strategy when firefighters arrived was to enter the home and try and put it out that way, which is why firefighters didn’t start to spray water over the tops of the homes as soon as they arrived. The wind proved too strong for that strategy to work, though.
“People may not think we got started right away, but we were already inside the house,” he said. “It just wasn’t going out today.” They also had to wait for the water department to build up enough pressure to fight the blaze.
They switched strategies then, moving to the outside of the homes and trying to protect the ones next to them. At 5 p.m. Monday, Zhmendak estimated that it would take several more hours to completely extinguish the flames.
Brian Matelic, said his wife and children were at home at the time, but escaped safely. His house is between Roth’s and the middle home, where the fire started. He said there wasn’t much hope for his home.
“By the time I got home, it was pretty much gone,” he said. “Thank God for insurance.”
Nancy Grajewski lived on the other side of the central house. Her home was also destroyed and she said she didn’t think the department did enough to save it. She said it took too long for firefighters to arrive and when they did, they didn’t bring enough equipment.
“They could’ve saved my house,” Grajewski said. “They all need to be retrained.”
Zhmendak said it was too early Monday to estimate the damage to the homes or look into the cause of the fire.
“We won’t know that until we can get in and look around,” he said.
“Our sole purpose today is to investigate this,” Snider said Tuesday morning. “We don’t know what caused it yet, but we’re treating it as an accidental fire.”
Copyright © 2006 Journal Newspapers. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2006 Journal Newspapers. All rights reserved.