MORAN TOWNSHIP, MI— A Mackinac County man is suspected to have set his house on fire then taken his own life.
Friday around 3 p.m., Michigan State Police from the St. Ignace Post were sent to conduct a welfare check on a residence on Portage Street in Moran Township. As troopers stood outside the house, it suddenly erupted in flames.
The fire spread rapidly, prompting officials to believe an accelerant was used.
As the fire intensified, suspected gunshots were heard from inside the house. Due to danger posed by the fire, troopers couldn’t immediately enter the home.
The St. Ignace Fire Department arrived and extinguished the flames. The house was a total loss.
When officials searched the residence, they found the body of a deceased man, believed to be the homeowner.
Preliminary investigation indicates the fire was deliberately set. The fire and suspected gunshots appear to have been a self-inflicted effort by the homeowner to take his own life.
Another person who lived at the home was not present during the incident and is unharmed. Nobody else is believed to have been in the house when the fire started.
After the fire was put out, MSP Fire Investigation Unit personnel responded to the scene. MSP Crime Lab personnel responded to help process the scene, and the MSP Bomb Squad responded to be available if any suspicious devices were located, due to the speed at which the fire had started. None were found.
MSP will forensically process evidence at the scene and have a forensic autopsy completed. The name of the deceased subject is not being released at this time.
MSP was assisted by the St. Ignace Fire Department, Mackinac County Sheriff’s Department, St. Ignace Police Department, Straits Area EMS, and Chippewa County Dispatch.
