Sunday fire damages house in Greenbriar Subdivision in VBT

The renter of the home at 6435 Thornwood in Greenbriar Subdivision said he had been smoking meat in a stand-up smoker on Saturday and thought the coals were all cool when he put them in a garbage can in the garage Saturday night.
But, they set the attached garage on fire Sunday afternoon, leading to about $150,000 in damage, not counting the water and smoke damage.
Van Buren Township Fire Marshal Dave McInally said the neighbor across the street noticed the smoke from the garage, ran across the street, and knocked on the door alerting the occupants. McInally said the smoke had not hit the house yet, so the smoke alarm hadn’t sounded.
He said after the occupants had exited, the woman ran back in to get the dog. She was evaluated by Huron Valley Ambulance for smoke inhalation. McInally said he believes they had no renter’s insurance.
According to the township website, the property is owned by JGJ Rentals.
Part of the roof over the garage collapsed, but fire had not entered the bedroom above the garage but went through the walls to the roof, McInally said.
Both the VBT and Romulus Fire Department ladders trucks were on hand. VBT has a mutual-aid agreement with Romulus that it will bring a ladder truck on mutual aid calls to that section of the township.
McInally said fire fighters were able to get on the roof using the Romulus ladder truck, rather than putting ladders against the house. The fire department was called at 2:41 p.m. and left the scene at 6:07 p.m.