Rental home ‘salvageable’ after fire; cause under investigation.

Photo by Editor-in-Chief Rob Alway.

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By Allison Scarbrough. Editor.

HART TOWNSHIP — A vacant two-story rental house located at 4794 N. Oceana Drive received extensive damage from a fire that ripped through the home Sunday evening, July 17, but a portion of it is “salvageable,” said Hart Fire Chief Ken Klotz Monday.

Photo by Editor-in-chief Rob Alway.

The house, which is insured, is owned by Jay Ball, Klotz said. No one was inside in the home nor was anyone living in it at the time the fire broke out, he said. Some people had been inside the house earlier Sunday to remove items after recently moving out, Klotz said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Oceana County Fire Investigation Team. Klotz said the blaze originated in the back of the house in an east-side addition.

Firefighters from three departments responded to the fire, which was reported at 8:28 p.m. Upon arrival, Hart Area Fire Department reported flames coming from the house, located on the southeast corner of Oceana Drive and VanBuren.

Most of the fire damage is in the back of the house, whereas the front of the house could be salvaged, Klotz said.

“We knocked it down fairly quick,” Klotz said. Wind was a factor combatting the fire when firefighters first arrived, but the winds died down around dusk, the chief said.

Responding to the scene were Hart Area Fire Department, Shelby-Benona Fire Department, Pentwater Fire Department, Oceana EMS and the Oceana County Sheriff’s Office.

Firefighters cleared the scene at 11:08 p.m.