On Friday, April 28, 2006 at 8:27 am, the Mason Fire Department received a report of a structure fire at 1133 Lone Oak in neighboring Vevay Township. Mason Fire Department is staffed by one full time chief, along with a volunteer staff consisting of one assistant chief, one captain, and two lieutenants with a total of 30 firefighters. The service area includes all of the City (population 7200) plus Vevay Township and part of Aurelius Township in Ingham County.
The 1st arriving unit, Mason Fire Capt Mark Howe in Car 803, reported a two story dwelling that was 75% involved. Capt. Howe was met by the occupants of the home who had been alerted by smoke detectors. They advised they had run to a neighbors house to call 911 and that all occupants were safely evacuated.
Engine 809, a 1250 GPM pumper with 1000 gallons of water, was the next arriving unit with 5 firefighters and an engineer. Additional Mason Firefighters later arrived with a 3000 gallon tanker, a 100 foot platform aerial and a support unit. 2 attack lines were immediately pulled and stretched to the "A" and "C" sides of the structure. The home is located in a rural neighborhood with no hydrants, so water supply was a major consideration in tactics. Initially an exterior attack was made for firefighter safety since the fire had already taken control of the entire attic. During the incident there were numerous collapses of parts of the structure which made an interior attack unsafe.
Mutual aid was requested from the neighboring communities of Leslie, Dansville, Onondaga and Delhi Twp for Tankers and manpower. Mutual aid firefighters reported the smoke plume was visible in the sky from their communities while responding. A tanker shuttle was established with a fill site established at a City of Mason hydrant approximately 2 miles away.
The fire is believed to have originated in the garage, but the cause is under investigation at this writing. The fire was officially declared to be out at 12:04 pm.
The home is a complete loss.
