Electrical fire forces family of three out of home in Ypsilanti Township
An Ypsilanti Township family of three was provided food and overnight lodging by the American Red Cross after an electrical fire caused them to evacuate their home early Sunday evening.
Firefighters responded to a call at 360 Devonshire Road at 4:28 p.m. on Sunday. Upon arrival, an exterior wall of the home was ablaze near the home’s electrical meter. According to Lt. Thomas Stachlewitz, firefighters were able to save the electrical meter, but had to disconnect power in order to extinguish the fire.
Stachlewitz said electrical arcing caused by a short circuit was the cause of the fire. Approximately $3,000 worth of damages was caused by the fire.
Two adults and one child were assisted by the Red Cross, which provides assistance for up to three days.
Contact Pete Cunningham at petercunningham@annarbor.com or by phone at 734-623-2561. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.
Comments
Ann English
Tue, Apr 17, 2012 : 9:35 p.m.
I'm glad you included the map; it was easy to forget the headline and think that the Devonshire street in Ann Arbor was written about, which I think looks like a street for millionaires to live on. Glad the cost of damage wasn't worse at the Ypsilanti Township home. Picture someone pushing another person on wheels, and the person pushed vanishes but the other person keeps exerting the same amount of power. That is what happens when there's a short circuit; the current remains the same, but it takes a shortcut, bypassing one or more loads that were meant to slow it down.