Clinton Township

Clinton Township woman dies from fire injuries

By Nico Rubello
C & G Staff Writer

CLINTON TOWNSHIP — A Clinton Township woman passed away Jan. 18 due to injuries sustained from a fire that morning at her home on Biland Drive, according to the Clinton Township Fire Department.

The decedent, Loreena Mary Minaudo, 59, authored books about her experiences with cerebral palsy. She was also the inspiration behind Loreena’s Law, a 2005 state law that allows someone who cannot sign their name because of a disability to legally use their thumbprint instead.

Fire department personnel were dispatched around 6:45 a.m. to the home after receiving the fire call from the alarm company, said Clinton Township Fire Marshal Steve Conroy. The alarm company also phoned her nephew, who lived around the corner and, getting to the home first, got her outside, he said.

Paramedic-trained firefighters arriving on the scene focused foremost on trying to save the severely injured woman’s life, with two firefighters accompanying an ambulance to McLaren Macomb hospital in Mount Clemens, Conroy said. She was then transported to Detroit Receiving Hospital, where she passed away later that afternoon, he said.

The point of origin was found to be in the kitchen, though the cause remained under investigation as of Jan. 21, Conroy said. There was substantial damage to the rear of the home.

No one else was in the home at the time, and there was no damage to any surrounding homes, he added.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Nico Rubello at nrubello@candgnews.com or at (586)279-1118.