Aquarium is believed to be cause of house fire

By John Counts Crime and courts reporter

Posted on Thu, Jul 5, 2012 : 5:32 p.m.

An aquarium filled with water could come in handy for putting out a fire, but it was the exact opposite case in Ypsilanti Township on Wednesday where the electrical equipment used to power one is believed to have started a blaze.

Crews were dispatched to the 8000 block of Lake Crest Drive at 9:11 a.m. for the fire.

“The homeowner was (awakened) by a smoke detector,” said Capt. Brad Johnson of the Ypsilanti Township Fire Department. “Smoke was filling the house.”

The 54-year-old man and 53-year-old woman who lived in the home got out without injury.

Their neighbor entered the home and rescued a dog, then used three canisters of extinguishers on the fire before crews from Ypsilanti Township and the city of Ypsilanti arrived, Johnson said.

There was heavy smoke showing when firefighters arrived. They put out the fire in 10 minutes.

There was one “larger, tropical” fish in the aquarium, Johnson said, but its fate was unknown.

After a preliminary investigation, it’s believed the fire started near the socket where all the electrical aquarium equipment was plugged in.

“The fire started at the fish aquarium, spread down the wall and into the floor,” Johnson said. “They had an overloaded circuit.”

It is estimated the fire caused about $40,000 worth of damage.

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