A Scio Township home was destroyed after a house fire re-ignited late Saturday night.

The Scio Township Fire Department, Dexter Area Fire Department and the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Department responded to a kitchen fire at 802 Magnolia Lane at Scio Farm Estates  around 6 p.m. Saturday.

Scio Township Fire Chief Carl Ferch said firefighters left the scene around 7:45 p.m., and the home was boarded up and secured by 9:30 p.m. 

At around 11:20 p.m., the department received a call that the fire had re-ignited. Ferch said firefighters had most of the fire contained quickly, but it took three and a half hours to fully extinguish the second fire.

A fire destroyed this mobile home in Scio Township.

The fire started after the homeowner’s boyfriend left grease heating on the stove while he stepped outside, officials said. Though the house remained standing, smoke and fire spread throughout the home’s attic, causing a hole in the roof above the kitchen. 

Ferch said the home was a "total loss" after the second fire.

Ferch said it's likely something was smoldering in the mobile home’s marriage wall that caused the fire to re-ignite later on. He said firefighters had checked the home with a thermal camera to detect lingering heat and smoldering, but found nothing.

Ferch said firefighters were thorough in putting out the fire the first time.

“It’s very important to weigh the amount of secondary damage you do in the name of making sure the fire is out,” he said. “We don’t want to do more damage than is necessary.”

He said the second fire was not due to negligence on the part of the fire department.

“We did a thorough job the first time, unfortunately I did not find the place that was still smoldering,” he said. “There’s a lot of places for it to hide in a mobile home.”