Two residents, one firefighter treated after fire
Two Auburn Hills residents are looking for a new home for themselves and their two chihuahua’s after a fire destroyed the mobile home they shared.
The two housemates and a Bloomfield Township firefighter were hospitalized Monday during the fire.
Bloomfield Township Chief John LeRoy did not identify the firefighter or give specifics, but said he was quickly treated and returned to work shortly after the incident. LeRoy thanked people for their concern.
One of the residents of the unit that burned at Oakland Estates is Brenda Vandewater’s mother-in-law. Vandewater said the two women were treated for smoke inhalation and released from the hospital early Tuesday morning. They spent Tuesday night at a hotel and had plans to spend Wednesday night there as well.
“What comes next, we don’t know,” said Vandewater, adding that her motherin-law is allergic to the Vandewater’s cats and can’t stay there because they have cats. Vandewater created a GoFundMe account to raise $7,000 to help the two women find a new home: https://www.gofundme.com/f/grandma-hauseburnt-down?qid=5068f33492394509d1d4ff2c904cc9e0.
“There aren’t a lot of shelters that will accept people with their pets,” she said.
Vandewater and Dan Holland, resident manager at Oakland Estates, were effusive in their praise for Auburn Hills police and firefighters and those Bloomfield Township and Rochester Hills, who provided mutual aid.
“They were just awesome,” Holland said. “In the manufactured home industry, fires can be devastating. They came in, reacted very quickly and contained the fire. You can never say too much good about the fire departments in our area.”
Fire officials indicated the fire appears to have started on a back deck or nearby shed.