Two-year-old first to notice fire

ISHPEMING — A two year old may have saved the lives of an Ishpeming family yesterday.

When a home’s porch caught fire, the child was the first to notice. The Ishpeming Volunteer Fire Department says it was called to the home on 216 North Fifth street shortly before 5:00 last night. Ishpeming City Police arrived first and used a portable extinguisher to put out most of the fire, but still found flames on the roof line and extending into the second floor wall. Firefighters were able to extinguish the rest of the flames by opening a second story wall and putting out flames on an exterior wall before they spread.

There was only minimal water and smoke damage to the home. Daniel and Amber Featherstone were inside at the time, a long with their three children and the two year old they were babysitting. No one was injured.

A preliminary investigation led firefighters to believe the fire was caused by careless use of smoking materials. The Featherstones will receive assistance from the American Red Cross and Marquette County’s Pigs & Heat Fire relief fund.

17 firefighters and two firetrucks responded to the call and remained at the home for about 45 minutes.