Equipment Malfunction Causes Mobile Home Fire

By Andrew Gorosko

Members of all five local volunteer fire companies responded to an accidental fire that occurred at a residence at the Newtown Village Mobile Home Park at 301 South Main Street late on the afternoon of Friday, January 28.

The mobile home park is near the Botsford Fire Rescue firehouse. Botsford Fire Chief Wayne Ciaccia was incident commander.

Fire Marshal Bill Halstead said that the fire broke out in the space beneath Unit 26 at the mobile home facility. There were no injuries, he said.

Unit 26 is the residence of Elizabeth Beres, 59, and her son, Andras Szeman, 32, the fire marshal said.

Initially, Ms Beres smelled smoke and then Mr Szeman saw some smoke, Mr Halstead said.

Learning that the fire was occurring beneath the trailer, firefighters dug through some accumulated snow to get access to the blaze. A plastic skirt encloses the space beneath the structure.

Under the mobile home, firefighters located some burnt wiring, the fire marshal said.

It took longer for firefighters to get to the fire than it took to extinguish it, he noted.

A damage estimate was not available. It is unclear if the mobile home can be repaired to make it habitable again, Mr Halstead said.

The presence of very large snow banks in the densely built mobile home park made for a tight fit for fire trucks responding to the fire.