Hancock fire deemed unsuspicious

Aidan Reilly/Daily Mining Gazette

HANCOCK — A fire that destroyed a Hancock house Sunday night was not suspicious in nature, authorities have determined.

In a press release Monday, the City of Hancock said the Hancock Fire Department and Hancock Police Department had returned Monday to investigate the scene of the fire at 911 S. Lincoln St., which began around 6:30 p.m. Sunday. They determined the fire started on the first floor.

The owners of the building had been doing renovation work on the house, and had left for dinner about 6 p.m., said Fire Chief William Lepisto. The fire spread quickly through the house, the walls of which had been gutted.

“I was up at the corner, just seeing a little puff of smoke,” Lepisto said. “By the time I got down here it was fully engulfed, heavy black smoke poured out.”

The building was a total loss, Lepisto said.

Aidan Reilly/Daily Mining Gazette

The bottom of the house was damaged extensively. When firefighters tried to go in through the top floor, it started to cave in, Lepisto said.

“That’s why we couldn’t fight it from the inside,” he said. “We were doing an outer attack, which takes a little bit longer.”

No one was in the building at the time of the fire. A Hancock firefighter suffered minor heat exhaustion.

Michael Starr, who lives next door, was remodeling his boat when he noticed the smell of smoke.

“I looked up and I saw smoke coming out of the back and the front of the attic,” he said. “I ran in the house, told my wife to call 911, and by the time I got back outside, there was fire shooting out of the vent. By the time we got our daughter and cars moved out of the area, there was fire coming out of the attic, as well as the second story.”

Aidan Reilly/Daily Mining Gazette

The heat had damaged the siding on his house, but it was otherwise fine, he said.

“The inside doesn’t smell smoky,” he said. “They had everything more or less battened down.”

Hancock Fire Department spent 2 hours and 20 minutes on scene putting the fire out.

The Houghton Fire Department and a Dollar Bay first responder assisted with mutual aid. The Hancock Police Department, Houghton Police Department, Houghton County Sheriff’s Office and Michigan Technological University Public Safety assisted with traffic.

In an email to residents, Hancock said they may experience brown water due to the fire, but that it was safe to drink. Letting the water run will clear it, the city said.