Woman injured in second of two fires in Pittsfield Township Thursday afternoon
Pittsfield Township firefighters battled two blazes this afternoon, including a house fire that injured one woman who was trying to rescue her two cats.
She was taken to the University of Michigan Hospital with severe burns, said fire commander Sean Gleason.
Her two cats were rescued by firefighters, Gleason said, and were unharmed. Two dogs were able to escape from the house, and they were also unhurt.
The house fire, reported at 4:06 p.m. in the 300 block of Hunter Ridge Drive, was the second of two blazes that drew crews from Pittsfield and Saline Area Fire Department on Thursday.
The first fire broke out about 2:30 p.m. in a vacant barn near Michigan Avenue and Warner Road.
Gleason said the fire was suspicious and the cause was under investigation. The barn was filled with hay and straw, and it was not connected to any power, meaning there seemed to be no ignition source for the fire, he explained.
By 7 p.m., crews were still on the scene, and a contractor with a backhoe was tearing down the barn in order to help extinguish the blaze.
"You could dump 10,000 gallons of water on that and it would still be going," Gleason said. Pulling the barn apart will help put out the flames, he said.
The fires were not related, said Deputy Police Chief Gordy Schick.
The fire at the home started in the back of the house, and investigators are still looking into the cause, but it was not suspicious, Gleason said. The damage to the house was estimated at $175,000. No damage estimate was available for the barn.
The woman's condition was not available Thursday evening, as she was still being evaluated at the hospital.
This story has been updated with additional details.
View Pittsfield Township fires in a larger map
News producer/copy editor Kelly Davenport contributed to this report.
Comments
TrappedinMI
Fri, Apr 1, 2011 : 2:54 p.m.
Glad everyone is okay. Great pictures. Thank you!
Kelsey
Fri, Apr 1, 2011 : 1:58 p.m.
This is a horrible incident. It is fortunate that everyone was okay. All the pets were able to escape, but one of the two dogs ran away from fire fighters when she was frighten. Please be on alert for a small white dog around pittsfield township. Her name is Maddie. Thank you.
Mi resident
Fri, Apr 1, 2011 : 2:03 a.m.
The residents of Pittsfield Township are fortunate they have excellent fire service in place. I hope they all vote to pass the millage in May so the crews can keep up the good work. I thank them for their dedication to what they do.
Chris
Fri, Apr 1, 2011 : 1:23 a.m.
Maybe it's a pre-April Fool's Day prank. Damn teenagers
Roadman
Thu, Mar 31, 2011 : 11:20 p.m.
Like the parrot story, people seem to be more concerned about the safety of pets than humans. Which is not necessarily a bad thing.
sbbuilder
Fri, Apr 1, 2011 : 12:52 p.m.
Huh?
jen
Thu, Mar 31, 2011 : 10:02 p.m.
And then while they were at those fires there was a bad accident in front of Saline Meadows Mobile home park, not even 1/2 mile from the fires. It was a busy day for Pittsfield Fire and police and rescue today!
Mi resident
Fri, Apr 1, 2011 : 2:07 a.m.
It's a tough job for sure! I bet they were ready to call it a day early... Except their job isn't over until the next crew comes In tomorrow morning. Almost every car accident, injury or medical situation will have firefighters responding. Day AND night.
Cash
Thu, Mar 31, 2011 : 9:27 p.m.
Odd two fires so close to each other.....so the house fire was not suspicious? Hope the homeowner will be okay...poor lady. Kudos to the firefighters for all of it including saving the cats and dog. It's a miracle they could do that.....cats are so skittish when they are scared. Good job firefighters. I'm glad you all were okay.