A fire caused heavy smoke and water damage to a home on Jefferson Street in Ann Arbor's Old West Side neighborhood Friday afternoon.
Carrie McClintock and her teenage son escaped the house unharmed. McClintock said her husband was not home at the time.
Ann Arbor firefighters said they found heavy smoke pouring from the two-story house at 411 Jefferson St. when they arrived shortly after 1 p.m.
Bruce Shields, The Ann Arbor NewsCarrie McClintock, center, gets a hug from her neighbor, Waive Briggs, right, as they watch firefighters douse the flames in McClintock's two-story house at 411 Jefferson St. in Ann Arbor on Friday. Person at left is unidentified.
Fire Capt. Dan Krueger said the fire started in the basement and spread to the first and second floor. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but it seems to be accidental, he said. Damage to the four-bedroom house is estimated to be about $125,000, he said.
McClintock said she emptied a household fire extinguisher onto the fire, but when she noticed a thick, heavy cloud of black smoke in the house, she and her son left the house, she said.
"My cat just bolted," she said.
Because of the smoke, she was unable to get to a phone, but a neighbor called for firefighters.
The family had lived in the house for about a year.
McClintock toured the house after firefighters had put out the fire. She said the house was structurally fine, but "totaled" inside from the smoke, fire and water damage.
The family likely will stay with friends for short-term housing while looking for another place to live, she said.
Jefferson was closed as firefighters battled the flames. A crowd of neighbors gathered to watch firefighters, and several offered to help McClintock