By Teri Stiles
Staff Writer
Atlas Twp. – Her daughter, Alyssa, was home from school, nursing a cold and Julie Crawford was upstairs getting ready for work when she smelled smoke.
Within fifteen minutes of her morning shower, Crawford’s house on Cathy Drive in Atlas Township, was filled with smoke and firefighters, from Atlas, Brandon, and Groveland fire departments, dousing their family home of six years.
‘I was just getting out of the shower and smelled something odd,? said Crawford.
Frantic to find the source of the increasing stench, Julie ran to the laundry room where she had just taken fresh clothes from the dryer.
Daughter, Alyssa, was home from school with a cold and told her mom she could not smell anything because her nose was stuffed up.
Insisting she could smell something ‘odd? Julie called her husband, Donald, who suggested she and Alyssa pull the dryer away from the wall to unplug it.
While attempting to move the heavy dryer, Julie opened the window to air out the room. Immediately she saw what she described as ‘sparks?, and told her daughter they needed to get out of the house.
She called 9-1-1, then ran upstairs to get the dog, and then left the house.
‘I probably shouldn’t have done that,? she said of retrieving the family pet, ‘It’s amazing how fast the house filled with smoke.?
After the call came in at 11a.m., it only took a few minutes to knock the fire down, according to Lieutenant Steve Bullen, but firefighters spent more than 25 minutes to fight the smoke.
While the fire burned through the laundry room and a half-bath, Bullen said Brandon and Groveland were called to assist with manpower and water, if needed.
‘The majority of the damage was from smoke that filled the home, which caused more than $60,000 in damage,? said Bullen.
‘At this time of day, we called for assistance with manpower,? said Bullen.