A fire that broke out over the weekend in the Quakertown subdivision of Livonia has been ruled accidental.
Livonia firefighters were called at about 1 p.m. Sunday to a home in the 38000 block of Meeting House Lane, which is located near Six Mile and Haggerty, over the weekend. Keith Bo, fire marshal for the Livonia Fire Department, said the fire started in the garage and was burning through the structure by the time firefighters got there.
"Flames were visible out of the garage when our fire crews pulled up," he said.
No injuries were reported, Bo said, though there were residents inside the home when the fire began. They were able to get out of the home when the fire began, he said.
"They smelled smoke and evacuated," he said.
While the garage at the home was a total loss, Bo said fire crews reacted quickly to try and save the rest of the home.
"Our fire crews did a very aggressive fire attack and saved the house," he said.
The remainder of the house only sustained smoke and water damage from the incident.
Fire Chief Shadd Whitehead, speaking during the Livonia City Council's study meeting Monday night, said the cause of the fire was some leftover ashes from a fire in the fireplace the night before. Those ashes were placed in a paper bag and then put into a plastic garbage can in the garage.
"There, it probably smoldered for a little bit, got enough oxygen and ignited the paper bag first, and then whatever the contents were inside the garbage can," he said. "The garbage can is plastic, so it's fuel as well. So it begins to melt and break down, it's also flammable. From there, the garage is loaded with different types of material, combustibles, flammable liquids and so on.
"So it didn't take long for it to obviously spread very quickly."
Whitehead said those individuals looking to dispose of ashes from a fireplace should try and place them into a metal trash can with a lid and preferably outdoors.
Bo said fire investigators have ruled the fire as accidental and closed the investigation.
A fire that started in a garage at this home in the 38000 block of Meeting House Lane in Livonia has been deemed accidental.
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