Early Morning Fire Destroys Home in Farmington Hills

investigators remain on the scene of a large fire that heavily damaged a home on Ballantrae early this morning.

According to Lt. Denny Hughes, a man who was the sole occupant of the home jumped from a second story window to safety, and no firefighters were injured. Hughes said the call came in at around 2:19 a.m. Pockets of smoke still rose from the charred remains more than seven hours later. 

"The first arriving firefighters said they had flames into the roof," Hughes said. "We're pretty fortunate it didn't spread to another home."

Houses on Ballantrae are on larger lots; the short street is tucked into a subdivision located east of Drake and south of 12 Mile. 

Once firefighters determined no one was left inside the home, Hughes said, they made the call to fight the blaze from above, using a ladder truck. The roof of the house and the roof over the garage both eventually collapsed, and debris took down a tree that was standing in front of the garage. 

The decision to stay outside the house was made for safety reasons, Hughes said, adding, "One firefighter funeral is one too many." 

WXYZ-TV reported around 8 a.m. today that the owner of the home was awakened by his dog barking, and that the man suffered back injuries when he jumped. The dog also escaped the blaze from the second story, the station reported.