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1. Firefighters from five area fire departments responded to a fire that destroyed a modular home early Friday morning at 5024 W. Fenwick Road in Fairplain Township. — Submitted photo | Sheridan Fire Authority
FAIRPLAIN TOWNSHIP — A woman safely escaped without injury after a suspected gas leak sparked a fire that destroyed her modular home just as Christmas Day had concluded.
At approximately 12:02 a.m. on Friday, firefighters from the Sheridan Fire Authority were dispatched to a report of a structure fire at 5024 W. Fenwick Road, between S. Miller and S. Berridge roads.
Montcalm County Central Dispatch advised responders everyone was evacuating the house and there was a glow in the mobile home with smoke coming out of the windows.
According to Sheridan Fire Lt. Chad Wittingen, when firefighters arrived at the scene, a modular home with a walkout basement was fully involved with flames through the roof.
Crews from the Greenville Department of Public Safety, Montcalm Township Fire Department, Orleans Fire Department and Ronald Township Fire Department responded with equipment and manpower to assist with extinguishing the blaze.
Upon responding to the incident, a request was made for a full response from the Ronald Township Fire Department along with a tender engine from the Greenville Department of Public Safety, which also set up a fill station at a hydrant on Industrial Park Drive and E. Washington Street (M-57).
Additional aid was then requested as the fire escalated.
“Once crews arrived on scene additional mutual aid was requested for tender and manpower from Orleans Township Fire and a tender from Montcalm Township Fire Department,” Wittingen said.
Wittingen added that there were two vehicles parked in the front yard that were not damaged and a pole barn on the north side of the mobile home that was also saved.
Despite the approximately 19,000 gallons of water sprayed on the fire, Wittingen said the modular home is a complete loss.
“With the holiday, we weren’t sure how much manpower we would have, so we called for mutual from neighboring departments to boost the number of firefighters,” Wittingen said. “The temperatures were in the mid-twenties, so we wanted to make sure we had enough personnel to rotate in and out of the cold.”
In all, about thirty firefighters from five fire departments responded to the fire and Sheridan was also assisted by Montcalm County Central Dispatch, Montcalm County, Emergency Services, and the Road Commission of Montcalm County, which was requested to put salt/sand on the roads in the area due to water from the fire hoses and the water shuttle spilling onto the surfaces.
“We do not know exactly what started the fire, based on the information we have received, it is possibly related to a gas leak from or near the stove” Wittingen said. “It is not known if the property was insured, but there were no reports of
injuries at the scene.”
The home is owned by Mary Vanmeter, and a GoFundMe campaign has been established online by her relatives to help raise donations with the home being a total loss.
“She literally escaped with nothing but a coat and a pair of shoes,” Mary’s grandson, Devin Vanmeter, said in the GoFundMe post. “Right now she is left with absolutely nothing and she is starting from scratch. So any small donation would be greatly appreciated to help this good woman get back on her feet. She means the world to me.”
The donation page can be reached by visiting gofund.me/28c445a5b or by searching “Grandma lost everything from fire on Christmas.”
Wittingen said Mary is also being assisted by the American Red Cross.
Crews cleared the scene around 3:30 a.m., and about 19,000 gallons of water were used through a portable relay system established at the scene.
Tankers from responding departments filled water from a hydrant in Greenville’s industrial park and transported it to the scene.
“Thank you to our brothers and sisters from our mutual aid departments, along with Montcalm County Emergency Services, Montcalm County Central Dispatch and the Road Commission of Montcalm County,” Wittingen said. “A nearby resident brought coffee to the scene.”
