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Posted on Thu, May 24, 2012 : 11:59 a.m.

Early morning fire near Chelsea hits two homes, displaces woman

By Kyle Feldscher

One home was destroyed and another was damaged in an early morning fire Thursday north of Chelsea that displaced one resident, according to fire officials.

Chelsea Area Fire Chief Jim Payeur said firefighters were dispatched shortly after 2 a.m. to the 700 block of Island Lake Pointe Road in Lyndon Township after the woman, who owned both homes, call 9-1-1. Payeur said the woman woke up and heard a hissing noise like leaking gas. Payeur said the fire originated in the single-story home and spread through a gas line to the woman’s home, where she lived.

There were no injuries in the blaze and firefighters left the scene at about 7:30 a.m., Payeur said. Much of the delay in extinguishing the fire came when firefighters had to wait four hours for a crew from DTE Energy to come to the home and shut off the gas, he said.

“An area (of the home) was allowed to burn because we had to wait until DTE could send a crew,” he said.

The home that burnt was mainly used for storage while the woman used the other home as her residence, Payeur said.

The American Red Cross also responded to the fire and is assisting the woman with food and lodging, according to a statement.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Payeur said.


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Comments

Eric S

Sun, May 27, 2012 : 12:40 a.m.

Turning off the gas at a typical residential gas meter is really, really simple. However, each individual residence typically has its own meter and shutoff. Upon reading that "the fire originated in the single-story home and spread through a gas line to the woman's home", it becomes obvious that this was a strange situation, even though we don't know the details.

OLDTIMER3

Fri, May 25, 2012 : 12:56 p.m.

Why isn't the fire department trained or have the equipment to turn off gas lines?

Lisa

Thu, May 24, 2012 : 4:58 p.m.

Ok, I'll be the first to say it. Four hours? A gas line is on fire and the wait time was four hours? Not OK.

Katie

Thu, May 24, 2012 : 7:18 p.m.

My thoughts exactly.