House Fire Sparked by Cooking; Industrial Fire Caused by Mechanical Failure

A hot stove in the basement of a residence in the 4200 block of Cactus Drive was responsible for a fire that damaged a two-story home there, officials said Monday afternoon.

Troy Assistant Fire Chief David Roberts said firefighters called at 1:11 p.m. Friday to the report of a structure fire arrived to find smoke and flames coming from the front window on the first floor of the home at 4235 Cactus Drive.

Firefighters made a "transitional" attack, applying water from the outside of the house, then moving inside, Roberts said in a news release. Once inside, firefighters discovered the bulk of the blaze was in the basement, burning upward into the first floor by way of the interior wall.

Firefighters headed to the basement and extinguished the remaining fire there and in one room on the first floor directly above the source.

Investigators determined the fire originate while the residents were away, after previously cooking on a stove in the basement.

Roberts said 47 firefighters from Fire and responded to the scene and worked on extinguishing the blaze for nearly two hours. There weren't any injuries.

The city of Troy assessor's report indicates the home has been owned by Sivarama and Vital Balusa since 2003 and was purchased for $400,000. Fire officials didn't provide an estimate of damages.

Firefighters from and responding to an unrelated fire about 4 p.m. Wednesday arrived to find a large industrial plant facility with smoke showing from the top and rear portion of the building and employees standing outside in at Sulzer Metco, 1972 Meijer Drive.

Firefighters determined the molten metal from a processing machine had ignited the support decking, which they were able to extinguish and stop from spreading. Smoke was then removed by using the plant's exhaust system.

About 20 firefighters, two engines, two ladder trucks and one rescue squad responded to the scene and worked there for just less than an hour. All employees were able to evacuate without injury prior to the fire department's arrival.

Fire investigators determined the cause to be a mechanical failure with part of a processing machine that allowed molten metal to fall onto the floor.

Sulzer Metco coats and enhances surfaces, produces materials and equipment for coating and develops machining processes for special components.