A home in Howard Township was destroyed after a garage fire spread to the residence at 2343 Caruthers St., near the 2300 block of Cogic Street Friday afternoon.

The fire began at about 3:30 p.m. in the garage next to the home. The flames then spread and quickly engulfed the roof of the home and spread to a trailer on the northeast side of the home.

Fire department units from Niles, Howard Township, Niles Township, Bertrand Township, Edwardsburg, Cass County and Pokagon Township responded to the blaze. SMCAS was on the scene and Dowagiac fire units were on standby.

AEP was also on the scene and shut off power to the residential unit, after a power line was reported to be down on top of the garage that caught fire. At this time, authorities are not sure if the downed power line was the cause of the blaze. Niles Township Fire Chief Gary Brovold said the line could have caught fire and fallen on top of the garage after the blaze already had begun. Once the flames were put out, a tangle of black wires could be spotted draping over the remaining skeleton of the garage.

Howard Township Captain Chris Korp said authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire at this time.

Authorities battled the blaze for about 45 minutes and stayed at the location for several hours to monitor the area for hot spots.

Brovold said the house is likely a total loss, though they won’t know for sure until they investigate further. While the house was still standing, the roof of the home, where the majority of flames accrued, had partially caved in and a lot of smoke and ash was pouring from the structure.

The residence is owned by Sonny Yakim, who was working at his job at Helena Chemical in New Carlisle, Indiana, when he got a call that his garage was on fire. A co-worker of Yakim’s drove him to his home as fast as he could.

Yakim’s 20-year-old disabled son, Chris Vanvrocklyn, was sleeping in the home when the garage fire began. Yakim said his brother was nearby saw the fire and got Vanvrocklyn out.

Once his son was reported to be uninjured, Yakim said he began to worry about his dogs that were last seen inside the house.

“If my bedroom door is open, they probably got out,” Yakim said. “If the door is closed, they are both gone.”

Around the home a number of spectators and neighbors watched authorities battle the blaze. Among them was Amos Carlyle, of Niles, who spotted the fire when it began. Carlyle was riding a go-cart with his girlfriend Wendy Bowman when he said she saw the back of Yakim’s garage on fire.

“She started screaming and hollering and I ran down there,” Carlyle said. “Once I seen smoke, the first thing I thought about was getting Chris [Yakim’s son] out of the house.”

Carlyle said he ran to the front door of the house, where Vanvrocklyn was already beginning to exit.

“He said, ‘what is going on?’ I said, ‘dude, the house is one fire,’” Carlyle said.

Carlyle said he went into the house to look for Yakim’s dogs but could not find them in the smoke.

“I could not breathe there was so much smoke,” Carlyle said. “We have no idea where the dogs are at. I’m yelling for people to call 911.”

Meanwhile, Sara Wylie, who was nearby and also saw the fire, called 911.

Carlyle said he is a friend of Yakim’s who does small engine repair for Yakim’s dad.

“Everything he owns is gone,” Carlyle said.

Surveying the wreckage of the home, Yakim still expressed gratitude to the firefighters on scene and shook Korp’s hand.

“I know you probably don’t hear this a lot, but thank you,” Yakim said.

Authorities will be continuing to investigate the blaze. More information will be available at a later time.