The aftermath of a Dearborn home following a fire.

DEARBORN — A home went up in flames on the afternoon of Thursday, June 2 after residents were frying fish in their garage with propane gas. The property was located on Chase Road near Michigan Ave.

According to Fire Chief Joseph Murray, the walls in the home’s garage were not sustainable enough to withstand the heat of an open fire grill.

Once the garage caught on fire, it spread rapidly to the remainder of the house. 

Murray said the incident was still under investigation, so he wasn’t able to comment further on the case. 

He did state that by the time Dearborn’s firefighters had made it out to the property, the majority of the house was already in flames. 

No one inside the home was injured during the incident. 

Murray noted that during the summer months, residents are very likely to grill or barbecue in a garage. He strongly advises against it. 

“Garages aren’t built to the same fire codes as houses,” he said. “A garage will go up in flames a lot faster because it doesn’t have a firewall.”

Murray said residents who cook with any type of grill, including a propane grill or hibachi grill, need to be at least 10 feet away from structures or walls.

The fire chief advised Dearborn residents to be more cautious when cooking with an open grill.

He noted that many times fires also start because a grill remains extremely hot even after the food is done being cooked, which is another reason why a grill should be at least 10 feet away from the house.

According to Murray, some Dearborn residents have even gone as far as barbecuing in the hallways of their own homes.

 “That’s just really dangerous,” he said.  “A lot of material in the house are combustible, so an open flame inside a house will not be difficult to start a major fire.” 

Murray also recommends that residents have a fire extinguisher or a water hose nearby when planning to barbecue near their home, to prevent any fires from spreading. 

Footage of the June 2 incident quickly made the rounds on social media, with many Facebook users proclaiming that Arab Americans aren’t as cautious as they should be when grilling food.

“Barbecuing, fire pits, deep fryers and/or improperly installed wood burning stoves should never be used in any garage or living structure,” said Jeremy Kurek on Facebook. “It happens too often in Dearborn.”

Other commentators noted that many people fry fish in their garages because they don’t want their homes to smell. 

“People need to stop using their garages as kitchens as well,” said Hassan Beydoun on Facebook. “If you want fried fish and don’t want the inside of your home to smell like fish when you fry, you can ask almost any local fish market to fry it for you.”