Two Killed in MI House Fire Found in Bathtub
By Karen Bouffard
Source The Detroit News
A grandmother and her two grandchildren died early Friday morning in a Lansing house fire, officials said.
The names of the woman and two grandchildren, ages 4 and 8, were not immediately made public.
The first call on the fire came in at about 12:10 am, according to Captain Steve Mazurek of Lansing Fire Station No. 9, one of several that responded to the fire in the 1400 block of Elizabeth Street on Lansing's east side.
"We arrived to find a small, 700 square-foot bungalow with heavy fire coming from the front side of the house," Mazurek said. "The crew determined they were going to go through the front door because they (couldn't get in) through the back."
The fire crew had no reports of anybody being inside the home, although a vehicle was parked in the driveway, he added.
"They got inside and were met with a wall of fire, fully involved," Mazurek said. "They got the fire knocked down really quick, and that's when they found two bodies in the bathroom."
The bodies of the grandmother and the four-year-old were discovered in the bathtub with the shower running, "obviously trying to protect themselves," Mazurek said.
The body of the eight-year-old was found in a bedroom.
"They were all deceased, overcome by smoke and heat, not doubt," Mazurek said.
The incident brought the city's tally of fire deaths this year to six, he added. Three others died in two fires that occurred last winter.
Mazurek said investigators with the city fire department and Michigan State Police were still on the scene investigating Friday morning.
The cause of the fire had not yet been determined, although it appeared to have started in the living room, he added
Mazurek couldn't say when the names of the victims would be made public.
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