Firefighters respond to mayor’s gas grill fire
Mount Clemens Mayor Laura Kropp got a first-hand look at the response time of local police and fire departments after experiencing an accidental fire at her home.
The mayor was taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather on Wednesday evening by cooking a barbecued chicken for her husband and two sons on an outdoor gaspowered grill when something went awry.
Dinner took a detour as Kropp was indoors preparing the food and noticed the smell of burning plastic. She went outside to see flames and heavy black smoke coming from the grill.
“It was a mess,” she said Thursday morning. “There were two empty propane tanks nearby so I moved those, grabbed the dog and called 911. The firemen were here in a jiffy.”
The Mount Clemens Fire Department and deputies from the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office quickly arrived and restored order.
Newly appointed Fire Chief Gregg Shipman said he’s glad the situation wasn’t worse, but added there were lessons to be learned from the incident.
“Not to sound trite, but it doesn’t matter to us if you’re rich or poor, black or white, we treat every incident the same,” he said.
Shipman explained the fire likely could be attributed to leftover grease in the grill, but added no investigation was warranted. He said it’s important to keep the grills about 20 feet from residential structures and off of wooden decks.
Kropp said the minor incident gave her insight into the compassion showed by firefighters and sheriff’s deputies and empathy into what victims of fire, such as the recent apartment blaze that left two dozen renters homeless, have to go through.
“I can wholeheartedly say our firefighters are well trained, quick to respond and passionate. My youngest son came out of the house in his socks and I said think about what the fire victims went through. Think of being forced outside in the middle of the night in freezing weather,” she said. “That’s reality.”
Afterward, with dinner plans ruined, the Kropp family pivoted to enjoy a meal and support a local business at Three Blind Mice Irish Pub.
The mayor shared her thoughts on the incident on social media, saying she believes people need to share their failures as well as triumphs.
Flames left some soot on the exterior of her 86-yearold brick home on Belleview, but it otherwise was undamaged.
“The grill needs a bit of attention,” she wrote in an understatement on Facebook.