2 people burned in Schoolcraft Twp fire

SCHOOLCRAFT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) - Two people remain hospitalized after fire ravaged their Schoolcraft Township home in what may be a blaze started by their fireplace.

There is very little left of Cherie Moore's home in the 13000 block of South Portage Road. Around 2:15 a.m. Wednesday, her daughter, Brittany Whitaker, came home and found flames blowing out the front of the house.

She knew her mom was inside. And also inside was 48-year-old Troy Cantwell.

There were no smoke detectors in the house.

Whitaker began pounding on the window to her mother's bedroom, and moments later her mom made it out. But Cantwell couldn't be found.

Neighbor Ron Miller ran over and tried getting in, but the smoke and flames had banked close to the floorr and there was no sign anyone was inside.

Miller backed off.

"When you know someone's in there, and you can't do anything to help them, it's very frustrating," he told 24 Hour News 8.

Cantwell had escaped out a back door.

Whitaker said her 51-year-old mother suffered mostly burns, bruises and a busted hand from trying to force her way out of the back door of the home. She said Cantwell was burned but is expected to be OK.

"Once I got them out of the house, it blew up," Whitaker said. "That was probably one of the scariest parts for me, because if I'd been one second later, she'd been blown up in there."

Miller helped the victim to a nearby vehicle to wait for an ambulance. That's when he learned the first clue to what may have caused the fire.

"They just kept saying 'chimney fire,chimney fire.'"

The fire marshal confirmed the fireplace was in use Tuesday night, so it's an obvious starting point for the investigation.

"However, at this time, it's too early to tell if that was the cause of the fire, but that's one of many things we're looking at," said Sgt. Scott LeRoy of the Michigan State Police Fire Marshal's office.

The National Fire Protection Association says between 2005 and 2009, 37% of the fires blamed on a home heating source were tied to a fireplace or chimney. In most of those cases, combustibles too close to the heat or creosote in the chimney were blamed.

But fire places and chimneys that aren't maintained -- with cracks and missing mortar -- can also cause a fire.

Neighbors have started a fund drive for the family. Donations can be made at any First Community Federal Credit Union branch in the name of Cheri Moore or Troy Cantwell.

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24 Hour News 8's Amanda Jarrett contributed to this report.