Fire Routs Family of 7 from Home, 2 Via Upstairs Window

This house on Mace Avenue occupied by a family of seven is uninhabitable due to heavy fire and water damage. (Screenshot: WXYZ video)

______________________

A Royal Oak man and his son jumped from the second-story window of their home on Mace Avenue early this morning to escape a fire that sent five people to the hospital and claimed the lives of two family pets, various news sources are reporting.

There were seven family members in the home when the fire broke out about 2:30 a.m. Thursday morning, WXYZ-TV reports. The five who were evaluated at a local hospital and are expected to recover, but the extent of their injuries is unclear.

“The father and son suffered some injuries from jumping to escape the fire but we don’t know the extent of any of the injuries of people in the house at this point,” Royal Oak Fire Chief Chuck Thomas told The Daily Tribune.

» Stay on top of Patch’s local coverage of Royal Oak by subscribing to the daily Royal Oak Patch newsletter.

One dog was saved from the inferno, which initial investigations indicate may have started with a kitchen grease fire, but another dog and a cat succumbed, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Thomas said firefighters could see “flames coming out of the kitchen area and out of the front window” when they arrived at the Mace Avenue home, located north of 11 Mile Road, near I-75.

Firefighters battled brutal 3-degree temperatures as they tried to control the blaze with water from a nearby hydrant. It was cold enough to freeze one firefighter’s radio to his suit, Thomas said.

“Once it was wet, he came back out of the fire, and it was frozen to his coat,” he said. “It was cold.”

Firefighters extinguished the blaze in two hours, and crews were rotated in and out to protect them against the cold, Thomas said.

Investigators were back at the scene this morning to assess the cause.

The house is uninhabitable and sustained extensive fire and water damage, fire officials said.