GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Crews responded Saturday morning to a single-story house fire on the 4800 block of Cedar Ridge Dr. NE. Thick, black smoke was bellowing out the open garage when crews initially arrived at 10:00AM.
Family members on scene told Fox 17 that the fire was started by a space heater in the home. Fire officials later revealed the space heater- which had been running since 2:00AM- was located in basement bedroom of the home, allowing the blaze to spread upward. The basement was left with significant fire damage, while the rest of the structure sustained major smoke damage.
While the family inside made it out of the house alive just before the fire department arrived on scene, along with two of their pet cats and a few caged rabbits, another two cats died in the fire from smoke inhalation, while another cat is still unaccounted for.
