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By Allison Scarbrough, News Editor
CLAYBANKS TOWNSHIP — A family lost their home and their pets in a house fire Sunday, Oct. 4, at 5038 South 44th Ave., according to Grant Township Fire Chief Dan Yost.
The family returned from church to find the back of their house on fire, said Chief Yost. Firefighters from Grant Township, Shelby-Benona and Ferry Township were initially dispatched to the scene at 1:23 p.m. Then, Montague and Hart fire departments were called for additional manpower.
It appears the fire started from a heat lamp that was being used to keep quail eggs warm, said Yost. “In the last year and a half, this is our second house fire that has been caused by heat lamps in the home.” The heat lamp was in a mud room area of the house located near the garage.
“It was an older home with a couple of additions on it, so the difficult part is the fire gets into the attic. So, the rear part of the house is pretty much a total loss, and the main part of the house sustained significant smoke damage. Unfortunately, they lost three dogs and four cats in the fire.”
No humans were injured, and the house was insured.
Firefighters were on scene until about 5 p.m. “The fire was knocked down pretty quickly initially, and then it was just chasing it into attic spaces and some void spaces that were there because of the additions.”
The house will be a total loss, the chief said.
The family is being assisted with housing by family members. Oceana County Victim Services is also helping them, said the chief. “They already contacted their insurance company for any other assistance they were going to need.”
Also responding to the scene were the Oceana County Sheriff’s Office and the Oceana County Rehab Trailer.
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