Fire Heavily Damages Neff Road Duplex

firefighters remained on the scene of a three-story duplex Wednesday afternoon as investigators try to determine the cause of what ignited the home in flames shortly after 2 a.m.

The residents, Frank Rice, his 85-year-old mother Clara Wood, his 14-year-old daughter Mallory Rice, and a resident from the lower unit escaped the house uninjured after Frank Rice woke to the smell of smoke, his older daughter Nicole Rice said. The family's black lab, Earl, also escaped without injury, she said.

Frank Rice said he was most worried about helping his mother out of the house but they made it. Nicole Rice said her father began helping the family and the other resident out after waking.

Firefighters from the City of Grosse Pointe were called to the house at 520 Neff Road about 2:15 a.m., Public Safety Director Stephen Poloni said. The tudor-style duplex sustained "extensive damage to the third floor," he said.

The cause is under investigation and crews remained on scene throughout Wednesday. Crews from and were also called to the three-alarm fire, Poloni said.

None of the firefighters were injured while battling the fire but the weather was likely a difficult factor. A tree in the front yard that sits near the house was heavily coated in ice as a result of the cold temperatures freezing the water firefighters used to douse the fire.

The driveway and sidewalk are also a mix of black ash and heavy rock salt, spread to make the area safer for pedestrians after being coated in water that froze into solid ice.

Frank Rice and his daughter Nicole Rice were walked through the house Wednesday afternoon. Nicole Rice said the inside of the house is damaged from water and smoke and the area where the fire started, her sister's bedroom, is destroyed.

Since firefighters are investigating the cause of the blaze they were not allowed to really remove any of their possessions, Nicole Rice said. Her father was clutching a single wooden picture frame as they exited the front door with a firefighter escort. There is likely very little they will be able to recover anyway, she said, because of the extent of the damage.

The weather conditions firefighters dealt with are similar to those they dealt with . That night icicles formed on the tires of the firetrucks and the roadway quickly became an ice-filled, every bit of runoff water froze to make it the ice thicker.

In that case, . The house has since been torn down and the lot is now vacant except a few remnants.