News Photo by Julie Riddle
A firefighter works at the scene of a house fire on U.S.-23 North in Presque Isle Township on Wednesday.
PRESQUE ISLE TOWNSHIP — A Presque Isle Township couple escaped unharmed but lost their home to a fire on Wednesday night.
When firefighters arrived shortly after 4 p.m., two sides of the home just north of the Parker House on U.S.-23 North were engulfed in flame and the house was quickly fully ablaze, according to Presque Isle Township Fire Department Chief Bill Forbush.
Firefighters don’t yet know what caused the fire, Forbush said.
According to a neighbor providing shelter for the couple, the residents tried to extinguish the fire themselves before fleeing the home with their two dogs.
The residents got the dogs into kennels in their minivan, but their keys to the vehicle were inside the burning house, the neighbor said.
News Photo by Julie Riddle
Firefighters remove a portable water reservoir from a fire truck at the scene of a house fire on U.S.-23 North in Presque Isle Township on Wednesday.
The first firefighter on scene found the dogs and reunited them with their owners, who had taken shelter across the street after that neighbor saw the fire and came to help the couple.
The neighbor said she offered the couple shelter for the night.
Flames fully filled the single-story home and blazed high into the air as firefighters tried to quell the blaze.
Firefighters “knocked down a lot, a lot of fire,” Forbush said.
Because the homeowners confirmed nobody was inside the house, firefighters did not enter the house but treated it as a defensive fire from the outset, Forbush said.
News Photo by Julie Riddle
Firefighters prepare a portable water reservoir at the scene of a house fire on U.S.-23 North in Presque Isle Township on Wednesday.
The fire was contained to the house and did not spread to any outbuildings or the nearby woods.
Firefighters from Presque Isle, Alpena, Maple Ridge, and East Grand Lake responded to the fire. Michigan State Police troopers and Presque Isle County Sheriff’s Office deputies assisted with traffic control.
Drivers were at first allowed to use U.S.-23, but police later rerouted traffic at East Grand Lake Road from the south and Rayburn Highway from the north.
News Photo by Julie Riddle
Fire blazes from the roof of a home on U.S.-23 North in Presque Isle Township on Wednesday.
News Photo by Julie Riddle
A carved statue stands in front of a house destroyed by fire on U.S.-23 North in Presque Isle Township on Wednesday.
News Photo by Julie Riddle
Flames slide out windows as a firefighter fights a blaze that destroyed a house on U.S.-23 North in Presque Isle Township on Wednesday.
News Photo by Julie Riddle
Firefighters pause near fire trucks while battling a blaze that destroyed a home on U.S.-23 North in Presque Isle Township on Wednesday.
News Photo by Julie Riddle
Sparks fly as a firefighter uses a pole to find hidden flames while battling a house fire on U.S.-23 North in Presque Isle Township on Wednesday.
News Photo by Julie Riddle
Flames engulf a home on U.S.-23 near Brooks Highway on Wednesday.
