House on US 12 heavily damaged by fire, road reopens

BERRIEN COUNTY, Mich. -- A house fire caused US 12 to be shut down between Bakertown Road and Red Bud Trail for over six hours on Friday.

The house is next to a liquor store at the corner of US 12 and Bakertown Road.

Bertrand Township Fire Department responded to the scene just after 11 a.m. and called in several other departments for assistance.

"The call came in about 11 a.m. As I came to the scene I realized we had to call multiple departments, so what we have is called a box alarm," said Matt Remmo, Assistant Fire Chief at the Bertrand Township Fire Department.

Nine departments responded to assist with the fire.

"It seems like the fire started in the back of the house. We have been here for quite some time because of the extensions and the contents of the house is still smoldering. So we want to make sure things get put out correctly," Remmo said.

The windy conditions hindered the firefighting efforts.

"It was a fire that took a lot and we had to switch personnel quite often because it was a working structure fire. The house is a total loss but we were able to save the cars in the driveway," Remmo said.

The fire blew smoke into the roadway, so US 12 was shut down between Bakertown Road and Red Bud Trail S from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The homeowner was not injured, but the homeowner's dog died.