Firefighters investigate the damage that the fire caused to the Berkley home.
By: Mike Koury | Woodward Talk | Published February 17, 2026
BERKLEY — A fire that ignited at a Berkley home on Sunday soon was put out by members of the Berkley Public Safety Department.
The fire in the 3800 block of Oakshire Avenue, north of 12 Mile Road, was reported to the department at approximately 8:06 p.m. Feb. 15.
According to Detective Lt. Andrew Hadfield, the fire was caused by hot wood chips from a barbecue smoker that had been left in a garbage can.
“It was going up the entire back side of the house,” he said. “It started to come up and hit the roofline when officers pulled up.”
Firefighters from Oak Park, Beverly Hills and Huntington Woods were on the scene to assist with the blaze. The Public Safety Department reportedly was able to extinguish the fire “within seconds.”
“It was knocked down pretty quick,” Hadfield said. “The officers were able to get it knocked down but then have to search for the extension (of the fire) into the remainder of the house, which took another 30 minutes checking different hot spots through the roofline.”
The department said in a Feb. 15 Facebook post that “all are OK at this time.”