Home owner loses everything in trailer fire

GRANT TWP. — A 51-year-old Grant Township man lost his home late this morning when the trailer he was living in caught fire at 1525 W. Countyline Road. Sherman Spivey had lived in the trailer in Forest Pines mobile home park for the past two years. Shortly after 11 a.m. he stepped outside to have a cup of coffee and noticed smoke coming from inside.

“I smelled smoke and then heard my smoke detector going off,” he told MCP. “I went back in and the bathroom was glowing. I grabbed Waldo, my Chinese domestic rat, and we got out and called 911.

Within minutes the trailer was engulfed in flames.

Matt Erickson and Kassy Tapley live next door to Sherman and noticed the smoke. “We woke up just a little after 11,” Matt said. “Kassy was on the couch and noticed smoke outside. I got my clothes on and went outside and that’s when I saw smoke coming from Sherman’s trailer. We called 911 right away.”

Sherman lost all of his possessions in the fire. He said it’s been a tough year for him because his wife passed away last year. “I guess now I will really have to start over,” he said. “The ironic thing is that I salvage trailers like this for a living.”

“I hate to see this happen to him,” Kassy said. “He’s just a really good guy. Sherman is the type of person who helps out others when he can.”

“He’s helped us out several times,” Matt said.

Sherman said the fire department was calling the American Red Cross to come in to provide him with assistance. Grant, Free Soil/Meade, Filer Township and Custer fire departments were on scene. This is the second fire at the park in less than a month.