MANISTIQUE TOWNSHIP — At approximately 5:24 p.m. Thursday, Manistique Public Safety and Volunteer Firefighters were called to the report of a structure fire at 6011W River Road in Manistique Township.

Initial information was received that there were flames coming out of the garage, which was attached to the one story residential home. It was also determined that there was only one occupant to this home and that person, the owner, was located in downtown Manistique.

Upon arriving on scene, officers found that the garage was almost fully engulfed with flames and smoke. Officers fought the blaze for about 30 minutes before it was brought under control, which included accessing the garage roof and venting it to prevent the fire from entering the home. Officers spent an additional two hours on scene extinguishing numerous hot spots and a large pile of firewood, which had been stacked against the east garage wall.

The home is owned by Paul Perry of Manistique Township, who had left his home to go into Manistique prior to the fire starting. Investigation found that the fire started in the northeast corner of the garage and the cause of the fire remains undetermined. There was no wood fire burning at the time of the fire, so firefighters have ruled that out as a cause.

The garage and it’s contents, which included a Jeep CJ-5, were destroyed completely and deemed a total loss. The home itself received minor water and smoke damage from this fire.

Manistique Firefighters received mutual aid assistance on scene from the Doyle and Hiawatha Township Fire Departments, which supplied tanker and water support. The Michigan State Police also assisted at scene by providing traffic and bystander control. There were no injuries to firefighters or civilians during the incident.