Fire fighters battle mobile home fire and sweltering heat

BUCHANAN TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A faulty fan is suspected to be the cause of a fire that damaged mobile home on the 4500-block of Mead Road outside of Buchanan on Monday afternoon.

At around 2:45 p.m. neighbors called the Buchanan Township Fire Department to the home, when fire fighters arrived they found the mobile home engulfed in flames.

"Per the homeowner…he's saying possibly a fan he was using was malfunctioning,” described Capt. Steve Mullen of the Buchanan Township Fire Department.  “Right now we just don't know because of the extent of the damage."

Fire fighters not only had to deal with the flames, but also the sweltering heat.

“With the extensive heat and everything we don't mess around with any type of fire that's extensive, we call for extra help, extra manpower,” Capt. Mullen explained.  “We get them rotated out, get liquids in them, get them rested, and try not to exert them any more than 5 or 10 minutes at a time.”

Southwestern Michigan Community Ambulance Service crews were on scene checking over the fire fighters and keeping some of the crews in special cooling chairs that surround the fire fighters with ice.

"S.M.C.A.S. does a real good job with our rehab, they do all of our rehab, they get on scene, they get dispatched with us, they bring out water, Gatorade and the rehab chairs which is awesome,” explained Capt. Mullen.  “It cools you down, it cools your body core down and just kind of relaxes you, gets your mind back focused."

As of late Monday investigators had yet to definitively determine whether the fire was caused by a malfunctioning cooling fan.