At 10:55 p.m. on Monday, January 23, 2017, the Manhattan Fire Department was dispatched to 730 Allen Road, Lot 51, for a report of a structure fire. Upon arrival, crews found a small fire that had been contained to the furnace unit and extinguished by a single fire
sprinkler head located directly above the furnace unit. Crews checked the entire structure for fire extension and removed residual smoke. The fire was contained within 10 minutes with a total of 17 firefighters responding on six fire apparatus.
The structure was occupied at the time of the fire, and all occupants evacuated without injury prior to arrival of fire crews. The estimated total fire loss is $5,000 to contents and the structure. The owner is listed as Blue Valley MHC LLC, 31200 Northwestern Highway, Farmington Hills, Michigan.
The fire damage would have been much worse if it had not been for the fire sprinkler installed in the area above the furnace. Fire sprinklers react quickly to fires and this is a great example how they can contain a fire to the area of origin.
The fire cause has been determined by fire investigators to be due to a furnace equipment malfunction.