A popular downtown Oxford business was destroyed by fire last week, the apparent result of a faulty light fixture in the building’s basement.
Shortly after midnight Thursday, Oxford firefighters were called to the northwest quadrant to battle a structure fire at The Scrapping Post, located at 7 N. Washington St, which is owned by mother-and-daughter team Diana Renouf and Cassandra Perry.
When firefighters arrived on the scene, Fire Chief Jack LeRoy said they discovered ‘heavy smoke? in The Scrapping Post and the adjacent business, Susan’s Ceramic Studio (3 N. Washington St.).
‘You could hardly see in any of the buildings,? the chief said. ‘The ceramics building had the lights on and the smoke was solid in it.?
Firefighters began feeling the storefront windows and discovered The Scrapping Post ‘was hot to the touch.?
‘The glass had already started turning dark? indicating high temperatures inside the building, LeRoy said.
To prevent a back-draft, LeRoy said firefighters conducted a ‘coordinated ventilation? of The Scrapping Post, meaning the front and rear doors were opened simultaneously.
Once inside, firefighters felt the floor was ‘extremely hot toward the rear-middle of the store,? he said.
Firefighters extinguished a small blaze on the main floor, then advanced to the basement, which they discovered was ‘heavily involved? in fire.
‘All the floor joists down there are charred,? LeRoy said. ‘Three or four are burned right in half.?
The chief said The Scrapping Post will have to be ‘gutted and redone.?
The blaze caused an estimated $160,000 in damage to the building (valued at $311,703) and $145,000 in lost contents (valued at $161,000), according to LeRoy.
‘All the contents of the store were ruined because of smoke and heat damage,? the chief said.
LeRoy said fire investigators from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department are ruling an ‘overheated ballast in a fluorescent light fixture? as the accidental cause of the blaze.
‘It happens quite often that older fluorescent lights overheat,? the chief said. ?(The fixture) was affixed directly to a wooden floor joist.?
Although all the actual fire damage was contained to The Scrapping Post, the surrounding businesses ? Susan’s Ceramic Studio, Healthy Smile Center (9 N. Washington St.) and Northeast Oakland Historical Museum (1 N. Washington St.) ? and the apartments above sustained smoke and odor damage.
LeRoy said it could cost up to $10,000 for ‘smoke abatement? in each adjacent building.
Several people living in the six apartments above The Scrapping Post and Susan’s Ceramic Studio were safely evacuated by police before fire personnel arrived on the scene, thanks to a passing driver who used a cell phone to alert 9-1-1 dispatchers about the blaze.
‘People were still sleeping in the building at the time,? the chief said. ‘Luckily, they were all able to get out.?
‘We’re very fortunate (the fire) was shortly after midnight. There’s still quite a bit of traffic on the highway,? LeRoy said. ‘Had it been at 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning, we might have had some fatalities based on the amount of smoke.?
Only one fatality was reported ? a cat living in the one of the apartments.
LeRoy said the apartment residents ‘didn’t wake up? prior to the evacuation because it appears there were no smoke detectors in the dwellings.
‘If they had them (smoke detectors), we didn’t hear them functioning. I didn’t hear any,? the chief said. ‘I put ‘none? on the report because obviously nobody was awakened by them . . . I’m just assuming that they don’t have any up there.?
However, because the Scrapping Post and Susan’s Ceramic Studio buildings (which LeRoy said are ‘for all intensive purposes one big building? because they share a ‘common hallway?) were constructed in the late 1800s, before there was an established fire code, the apartments above were not required to have smoke detectors.
The three apartments above The Scrapping Post will now be required to have smoke detectors, said LeRoy.
‘When a building has fire damage, it has to be brought up to code,? LeRoy said. ‘We’ll end up with a safer building than what we originally had.?
The chief said he will lobby to have smoke detectors installed in the other three apartments above the ceramic studio as well, due to the common hallway the buildings share.
Businesses below the apartments do not have to have smoke detectors because the code does not require them in commericial spaces.
The chief noted the Healthy Smile Center and apartment above it were ‘up to code? and ‘did have everything,? including smoke detectors.