Amidst the power outages, fallen trees and power lines, and other mayhem caused by the intense storm Sunday night, one Dowagiac family lost their home to a fire that needed the assistance of six different fire departments to extinguish.

Firefighters with the Dowagiac Fire Department were first altered to a fire at the residence of Robert and Pamela Bryant, located at 309 West Division St., at 11:43, with the first engine on the scene six minutes later, according to Dowagiac Fire Chief Guy Evans. Officers worked to combat the fire on the first and second floor of the house, the flames of which were given additional oxygen by the high-speed winds that blanketed the area most of the day.

“The high winds played a major role in dealing with the fire,” said Jarrid Bradford, the deputy chief of the Dowagiac Police Department. ”Combined with the time of day, being dark out, also hurt visibility and helped spread the flames out even farther.”

All members of the Bryant family, who were asleep at the time of the incident, evacuated the residence unscathed before the fire spread from its source on the first floor to the rest of the house. The two adults were alerted by smoke detectors, who then escaped with their five children and two dogs before the fire department arrived.

“Chief [Evans] really wants to emphasize that, in this case, the family’s smoke detectors were a life saver,” Bradford said.

Early into the call, the department requested a Mutual Aid Box Alarm System alert for the fire, which requested the assistance of other local departments to assist the Dowagiac firefighters already on scene. Crews from Cassopolis, Pokagon and Sister Lakes fire departments all assisted during the fire, relieving the city’s firefighters, many of whom had been responding to calls all day due to the storm, Bradford said.

Firefighters were able to contain the fire around 2:30 a.m., a priority for the officers on scene since the fire occurred in a residential district. The last engine finally left the scene at 4:24 a.m.

While the Bryants may have survived the incident without any injury, their home and most of their belongings are most likely damaged beyond repair.

“We observed some structural damage to the house, meaning its likely a total loss,” Bradford said.

The Dowagiac Fire Department is still investigating the cause of the fire. Officials currently suspect that the fire was started somewhere in the kitchen area, likely due to an electrical issue, Bradford said.