04/08/11 Thursday was an usually busy day for the Plymouth Fire Department and its volunteers.

In less than one hour they had three calls and three hours later another call.  At 12:34 p.m. the Fire Department was dispatched to a grass fire in the backyard of a residence on West Adams Street just west of the railroad.   The residents were apparently burning some debris and left the fire unattended.  The winds spread the blaze along the back edge of the property.  The Plymouth Grass Fire rig was dispatched and within a couple of minutes the grass fire was out.  The citizens were issued a citation for the fire.

At the same time a call came in of a car fire at Wrench General on Airport Road.  The vehicle was in the parking lot.  Employees were preparing to move it into the shop and when they started the van some fuel had loaded up in the exhaust system near the muffler.  Starting the vehicle ignited the fuel and a fire started on the underside of the van.

At 1:26 p.m.  firefighters were once again dispatched, this time to a smoking vehicle in front of ANCO Office Products in downtown Plymouth.  The female drive said she had gotten in the vehicle and when she started smoke started coming from the dash.  When emergency responders arrived the vehicle wasn’t smoking.  Firemen suspect that a broken or leaking oil line started smoking when the engine heated up.

The final call Thursday afternoon was a house fire at 4:10 p.m. at 615 Ferndale Avenue.  Fire Chief Andy Metsker said a neighbor was the smoke and called in the fire.  No one was in the home at the time of the blaze, the 100 year old owner currently resides at Pilgrim Manor.  The fire started in the basement and had burned through the first floor.  It was extinguished without much incident and no injuries were reported.

Plymouth Police assisted in verifying that no one was home and with traffic control.  The Plymouth Fire Department had four units on the scene.

Chief Metsker said, “There is an interesting story about a couple pieces of furniture in the home.  They were her mother’s and survived the great Chicago fire.”  He continued, “They also survived this one.”

The cause of the fire has not been determined at this time, and remains under investigation.