Page 13 - Wayne Dispatch Pages

Finding the positive within the ashes of tragedy

By Sarah Shurge classification was accidental electri-
Your life can change at any given cal.”
moment. For long-time Wayne resi- “Accidental electrical” means an
dent Don Justice, that moment oc- unintentional fire caused by an elec-
curred last year on May 12th, 2022. trical problem.
It started out as an average day. “That house was Kathleen’s
Justice was on his way to visit one of mother’s house for years. She was
his four sons. His wife of 52 years, devastated and taking it pretty hard,”
Kathleen, and their two year old said Justice. “A tragedy like this can
great-grandson was also in the car separate people if they are on differ-
with him. As the three of them ent pages. But we’re not materialis-
headed to South Lyon, Justice re- tic. It’s brought us closer together.
ceived a phone call that would Our attitude and morale has grown
change his life. stronger because we realize that
The call was from the Wayne Po- these things happen.”
lice Department. They identified Although accidents happen, you
themselves on the phone and told might be wondering if anything can
Justice that he needed to return be done to minimize the chances of
home as quickly as possible because something like this happening to
his house was on fire. your home.
“I remember I was on Van Born Deputy Chief Schneider provided
Road and Belleville Road when I got a list of the main things every home-
the call. After I hung up, my wife and owner should know:
I looked at each other and started Power strips - Use high quality
singing the worship song ‘Through It power strips and only use them for
All’ by Andraé Crouch,” said Justice. low voltage applications. No kitchen
With uncertainty of what to ex- appliance (refrigerator, microwave,
pect, Justice turned the car around coffee pot, etc.) should ever be
and returned home. plugged into a power strip.
It was a busy scene when Justice Daisy chain - Never plug an exten-
arrived on site. There were firefight- sion cord into another extension
ers, police officers, fire trucks, police cord or a power strip.
cars, and a crowd of spectators. Long-time Wayne resident Don Justice, lost their home to fire last year. Phone chargers - Any phone
Flames were coming out of the roof gases out of the home. Smoke is fuel. fire fairly quickly but there was a chargers that are not being used
of the house where he and his wife So anytime you see smoke, that is ac- considerable amount of damage. The should always be unplugged from
had raised four sons, seven grand- tual fuel that will burn.” things that can't be replaced are the outlet or power strip.
children, and one great grandchild As holes are cut, the smoke is what we try to salvage. Even during Lithium batteries - Once anything
together. being cooled and allowed to escape. fire operations, we try to move things with a lithium battery is fully
“When we got back to the house, “The firemen were using saws to the side instead of destroying charged, unplug it and take it off the
firemen were already in action to try and cutting holes everywhere. If they them.” charger.
to prevent the fire from spreading. At had not gotten there early, it [the All of Kathleen’s doll collections Smoke detectors - Make sure
that time, we didn't know how much house] would have burned all the were salvaged from the fire without each sleeping room, the hallway out-
damage there was, we were frus- way down. But no other buildings any water or smoke damage. How- side the rooms, and each floor (base-
trated and upset,” said Justice. “My burned and no one was hurt. Not ever, five rooms of the house were ment, main floor, second floor) have
wife and I got back in the car and even our dog,” said Justice. damaged in the fire including the up- a smoke detector that is working
started praying for safety and got our When firefighters arrive at a fire, stairs and the back rooms. with batteries in place.
minds off of ourselves.” Deputy Chief Schneider explained “We were watching our great- Carbon monoxide detector -
Wayne Deputy Chief/Fire Marshal there are two things they do: 1) Go grandson for two weeks while his Make sure a carbon monoxide detec-
Jeremie Schneider was one of the in to extinguish the fire. 2) Go in and parents were in Carolina, and I’m so tor is in place and working properly.
first to arrive on the scene. do a search for occupants and pets. grateful my wife decided to come to Fire extinguishers - Every house
“Our crews made an initial inte- “Once the fire was out, the fire South Lyon with me and bring him should have at least one fire extin-
rior attack and knocked the fire chief asked if there was anything because the room he was staying in guisher. Especially one in the kitchen
down. We found the origin where the they could get out of the house for was one of the most damaged (class K) and one in the garage (class
fire started and applied water. Then us,” said Justice. “They got our dog rooms,” said Justice. ABC).
we overhauled the area,” said Deputy out. She was laying at the top of the So what can cause a house fire “We’ve had quite a few fires in the
Chief Schneider. steps and they brought her to us.” like this? City of Wayne where a power strip
“Overhaul” is when parts of the Justice has a 3 year old Pug “Every fire is different. The job of and cell phone cord were not being
ceiling and walls are torn down to en- named Bobo that was completely un- the fire marshall is really to rule out used,” said Deputy Chief Schneider.
sure the fire does not extend into any harmed during the fire. possible ignition sources,” said “The circuits in those chargers are so
other areas of the building. “Life safety is always a priority. Deputy Chief Schneider. “After the in- delicate that eventually it’s going to
“Then we sent a crew to the roof Once humans are out of the home, vestigation for Don’s house, where fail, either where it doesn't work and
to cut ventilation holes,” said Deputy we move to pets,” said Deputy Chief the fire started, all sources were
Chief Schneider. “This is to get the Schneider. “We were able to stop the eliminated except for electrical. The See Fire, page 15
The Wayne Dispatch · April 2023 · 13