HARPER WOODS, Mich. – Investigators from the Harper Woods Fire Department are probing a deadly house fire that started early Thursday morning at a home in the area of Vernier Road and I-94.
The fire was in the 21100 block of Country Club Drive. Sources said the victim is a man believed to be in his late 20s. Sources also originally said that a marijuana grow operation was found in the basement of the house. However, Harper Woods officials later said the grow operation actually was for bonsai plants.
Fire officials say that the fire appears to have started about 1:20 a.m. on the second floor of the home and the man appears to have been overcome by smoke.
Grosse Pointe Woods and Grosse Pointe Farms fire departments also assisted Harper Woods with putting out the fire.
“It’s always frustrating losing somebody. I mean, there’s so many reasons that these can happen. Did he have working smoke detectors? ... there’s a lot of times we go into house that the smoke detector batteries are chirping,” said Capt. Dave Mehl, of the Harper Woods Fire Department.
Mehl did not know for sure if the house had working smoke detectors.
The cause of the fire does remain under investigation.