By Jim Newell
Review Editor
A fire early Saturday morning has virtually destroyed the Lake Orion Pet Centre, a mainstay in the downtown community for decades.
The fire took six hours for fire crews to completely extinguish, with firefighters from Orion Township’s four fire stations and the Lake Orion Police Dept. responding to the emergency.
The Oakland County Sheriff’s Dept., The Oxford Fire Dept. and Lake Orion Village DPW aided onsite, while the Auburn Hills Fire Dept. covered the south end of the township, said Fire Chief Bob Smith and L.O.P.D. Chief Jerry Narsh.
The “tone” or alarm came into the fire stations at 8:12 a.m., with a crew and fire truck from Station One on nearby Anderson Street arriving at the fire in less than a minute, said Smith, who arrived two minutes later.
L.O.P.D. Officers Todd Stansfield and Brian Martinez were patrolling the area when the alarm sounded and arrived at the fire within seconds, evacuating four residents from the upstairs apartments and rescuing four kenneled dogs from the Pet Centre, Narsh said.
“The most important thing is that we were able to evacuate all the people upstairs,” Narsh said. “It’s always a victory when no lives are lost. The police officers were there within seconds of the call.”
Dr. Kevin Morris at the Lake Orion Veterinary Center took in the dogs and treated them for smoke inhalation, Narsh said. Two cats that roamed free at the Pet Centre were missing, but both have since been found alive.
Smith also requested that an officer from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Investigative Unit be on scene to help determine the cause of the fire.
“Until I get the official account from the Oakland County investigators I don’t want to speculate,” Smith said.
“We’re pretty confident that it started between the floor and ceiling of that second level,” he said, adding that investigators “were not ruling out that it was electrical in nature.”
After the firefighters arrived at the Pet Centre, they immediately begin surveying the scene and setting up their equipment, Smith said. Initially, the firefighters entered the building and stood atop the first-floor roof to battle the fire, but Smith called for an evacuation shortly after.
“It was a deep-seeded fire before we got there. Within a few minutes of arriving I could see the (second) floor buckle. That’s why we had to get out as soon as we could,” Smith said. “Within minutes of calling for an evacuation, the floor collapsed.
“(The fire) had gotten such a hold before we got there…there was not a lack of personnel or water or any hindrance to fight this fire,” he said.
The fire crews then used their ladder truck to spray the fire from above while ground crews continued to soak the flames from below.
Smith said the east side of the building, which is where the floor collapsed, is a “complete loss” and the west side of the building sustained damage and that structural engineers would have to determine whether it could be rebuilt.
The Oakland County Sheriff’s Aviation Unit assisted firefighters with locating any remaining hot spots by utilizing its FLIR unit while providing an aerial view of the scene.
After the floor collapsed on the east side of the building and firefighters had doused the flames, the village DPW used a backhoe to pull apart the rubble so the Orion firefighters could spray the smoldering ruins, Smith said.
It was after 2 p.m. before crews had completely extinguished the fire.
“They (the Orion firefighters) do a fantastic job. Nobody sits down, nobody complains,” Smith said, adding that the cold conditions also made it difficult.
“The parking lot turned to ice immediately (after spraying the fire with the hoses), so they had to be careful walking around,” he said adding that in addition to the 90 pounds of gear the firefighters wear was the added weight of water freezing on them.
Smith also thanked Lockhart’s BBQ for providing coffee and water to the first responders throughout the day.
Narsh said that the police officers and firefighters responded as he would have expected.
“They’re professionals and they’re veteran officers,” Narsh said, adding that there were “heavy smoke conditions” when the officers arrived at the building. “I’m proud of my officers for making the decision they did, to enter the building and evacuate the tenants and dogs.”
“They (the fire department) fought a very tough fire there in an old building, with tough fire lines,” Narsh said. “It was running wild and eating fast. I thought they did an amazing job. Kudos to all of those who assisted us in fighting that fire downtown.”
Narsh has been in contact with the Pet Centre owners saying, “They’re just devastated and overwhelmed.”
A post on the Lake Orion Pet Centre’s Facebook page reads: “We would like to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. All animals are safe and have been transported to Lake Orion Veterinarian Clinic on M24. If you have any questions, please contact us via Facebook.”
“I’m sure this town will come together and embrace one of our small business owners,” Narsh said. “I know we’ll come together and help them get back into business.”