The fire initially broke out late Monday morning. Fire crews left the scene on Thomas Road at 4:42 p.m., according to emergency dispatchers, but returned just after 6:45 p.m. when callers reported remnants of the fire somehow flared up and spread to a garage.
While dispatchers reported the fire occurred at 4951 Thomas, the family who lives at that address said the fire actually occurred across the road at 4857 Thomas and said a knocked-over mailbox may have led to the mix-up.
Crews from the village of Seven Mile and Wayne and Madison townships tore down what was left of the garage to ensure the fire did not spread, officials said. At the time dispatchers called for medical transport, only Seven Mile and Wayne crews were on the scene.
Wayne Twp. Fire Capt. Darrell Yater said no one was inside the residence at the time of the initial fire, which was reported at about 11:40 a.m.
When fire units from Wayne, Madison, St. Clair and Milford townships and Seven Mile arrived at the scene Monday morning, heavy smoke and fire was coming from the second floor, Yater said.
Firefighters tried to attack the blaze from inside the house, but were forced back outside because of the intensity of the flames, Yater said. Within a few moments of exiting the structure, the right side of the roof collapsed, he said.
Flames still were visible from the roof and the front of the residence as of 1:10 p.m.
Neither a cause nor origin of the blaze has been determined, Yater said.
