By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
ssoldan@mihomepaper.com
Brandon Twp. — At 3:44 p.m., on Feb. 25, the Brandon Fire Department responded to a report of a structure fire in the 1000 block of Kent Road.
The arrival time was 3:52 p.m., and the fire department had the fire under control in less than 30 minutes. The cause and origin are currently under investigation with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office fire investigation unit.
“Crews got there and it was a long driveway, about 750 feet, so we had to drop a large diameter hose at the road and pump water up to the engine,” said Brandon Fire Chief David Kwapis. “Fire started on the outside near the garage door and spread up to the overhang of the roof which then got into the rafters, got into the garage, and into the bedroom over the garage.”
The residents of the home were alerted to the fire by the smoke detectors and called 911. There were no injuries reported, and the pets were found as well.
“One dog, three cats, all were accounted for except one cat who ran and hid somewhere in the house,” said Kwapis. “There was minor to moderate fire damage to the outside, but there’s a lot of smoke damage throughout the house.”
In addition to Brandon, Atlas Township Fire Department and Groveland Township Fire Department were on scene to assist, as well as Oakland County Sheriff’s Office. Oxford Fire Department and Independence Township Fire Department also provided mutual aid to Brandon.
“I want to thank Oakland County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance so fire personnel could get in and out,” said Kwapis. “They were on scene both with patrol and helping block the road to limit traffic for the water relay.