OTTAWA COUNTY (WHTC-AM/FM) — An Olive Township family safely escaped from an overnight house fire, according to Olive Township Fire Chief Duane Wolters.
He said firefighters were called for help in the early morning hours and had mutual aid from Port Sheldon and Holland townships’ firefighters — approximately 20 in all worked on the fire. Red Cross volunteers and Ottawa County Sheriff’s deputies also responded to the scene, at 5311 136th Ave., a single-story home built in 2007 with an attached garage. Wolters said the fire started in a bedroom.
He declined to speculate on a possible cause, because the fire remains under investigation but said the house is considered a total loss.
The bitter cold make the firefighting difficult, Wolters said — some gauges on the fire engines froze but didn’t hamper the work.
He said there was a problem in the attic where the roof was joined, and firefighters had to return to the scene to douse a rekindle. No one appeared to be injured, other than “numb hands and feet” from being at the scene in the below-zero temperatures.
