DORR, MI (WHTC) - For the second time in as many nights, a house fire occurred along the Lakeshore.
A 41-year-old man was killed in a house fire early thsi morning in Dorr. Authorities say that the family of Paul Smit was aroused around 2 AM by smoke at their 137th Avenue residence near 22nd Street. His wife and teenaged son were able to escape, but Smit was apparently overcome and died at the scene. Crews from three departments had to get water from a nearby pond to bring the flames under control. Investigators initially believe that careless smoking played a factor in sparking the blaze.
Meanwhile, the unnamed residents in a Park Township home off of Lakewood Boulevard near 160th Avenue were on vacation when their vacant house went up in flames late on Wednesday evening. Two dogs that were being cared for by neighbors perished in that fire.
There were no reports of any firefighters injured in either blaze, and no cause has been determined yet in those incidents.