Brighton Firefighter Pulls Woman From Smoke-Filled Genoa Township Condo

Brighton Fire Chief Mike O'Brian urges residents to use caution while cooking after a Brighton firefighter pulled a woman from her smoke-filled Genoa Township Condo Wednesday morning.

She was treated for smoke inhalation, then released.

The call came from the woman's upstairs neighbors on the 3700 block of Audrey Lane who kept hearing the smoke alarm. The cause of the fire was a melted pot left on the stove. The woman is believed to have fallen asleep while cooking.

Brighton Fire Capt. Ryan Sovey said he discovered the woman in bed. Unable to wake her, he picked her up and dragged her outside.

"I opened the back door and there was smoke halfway down the walls, I could hear the TV on, the lights were on and at that point I just made the decision that there was probably someone in there," Sovey said.

After bringing the woman out, Sovey returned to the condo to finish his search and rescue the woman's dogs.

Sovey said there were noodles on the stove and the fire was just beginning to start catching the kitchen cabinets.

This was the second kitchen related fire that Brighton firefighters responded to this week. The first took place on Tuesday, on the 7700 block of McClements Road.

O'Brian said the cause of that fire is believed to be a stove malfunction. The fire consumed kitchen cabinets and parts of the ceiling and caused smoke damage. O'Brian estimated the total damage to be about $20,000.

Safety tips for outdoor cooking

According to O'Brian, there were three summer cooking related fires in 2011. O'Brian offers these outdoor safety cooking tips:

• Only use charcoal and propane grills outside
• Keep children away from grilling areas
• Keep grills clean
• Don't forget to remove the grease build up on the bottom of the grill
• When finished grilling, make sure coals are completely cold before disposing in metal container
• Grills should be used no closer than 15 feet to a building and never on a balcony or patio of an apartment building
• If you smell gas while using a gas grill, shut the gas of immediately at the tank
• Follow the user's manual of the grill to check and repair leaks