Plymouth Township Offices Damaged By Fire

PLYMOUTH, MI — A fire likely caused by careless smoking did approximately $200,000 worth of damage to a Plymouth Township office building Monday evening. Fire Chief Dan Phillips said the fire started in a wooden smoking receptacle outside of the building, which is located at 1311 Ann Road between Main Street and Sheldon Road.

The three-suite office building was unoccupied at the time of the fire at about 6:40 p.m. Nearly two dozen firefighters from Plymouth, Canton and Northville townships as well as the city of Northville got the main part of the fire under control in less than 15 minutes, Phillips said.

“But the fire was in the roof so we ended up being out there until about 10 p.m.,” he added, “making sure hot spots didn’t ignite.”

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Fighting the fire was made more difficult because the integrity of the roof was compromised, Phillips said. It meant using aerial trucks to douse flames from above, instead of sending firefighters in the building to attack it from underneath.

“We were not going to put any firefighters in danger,” Phillips said.

He has not made a final ruling on the fire’s cause, but said careless smoking is likely. Some news reports said the fire was caused by a downed DTE Energy line. Phillips said a wire was down near an adjacent tree, but it was not energized and didn’t start the fire.

Damage to the building, which sits at the corner of Marlow Street and Ann Arbor Road, was contained to a wooden addition. Phillips said the building was originally constructed in 1961 and made of brick. Two of the three office suites were in use by businesses, but workers will not be able to return until repairs are made due to smoke and water damage, Phillips said.

No charges will be filed as a result of the fire, which Phillips said was accidental. He said there was no intent to cause a fire.

Photos by Julie Gross and courtesy of the Plymouth Township Fire Department