HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (TheBlaze/AP) — Authorities say a blaze that displaced dozens of people from a southwest Michigan apartment complex may have been sparked by a resident trying to cook a squirrel with a propane torch.
The Lansing State Journal leaves little doubt, however, about the cause:
Investigators say a person torching the fur off a squirrel started a fire that destroyed a Holland Township apartment building Wednesday afternoon.
Holland Township firefighters determined the fire started when a resident was using a propane torch to remove a squirrel’s fur. The person planned to eat the squirrel.
Fire Chief Jim Kohsel tells MLive.com that the resident apparently planned to eat the animal and was burning off its fur on a third-floor deck at the building in Ottawa County’s Holland Township when the fire broke out Wednesday. Flames spread to the roof. Kohsel says eight apartments are destroyed and others damaged.
The resident’s name wasn’t immediately released.
Kohsel says a firefighter broke a toe. No residents were injured.
Resident Tiffany Camburn told The Holland Sentinel that she and her neighbors had to evacuate their apartments.
The American Red Cross arranged temporary shelter and clothing for displaced residents.
(H/T: Fark)






















































































































Comments (47)
dmerwin
Oct. 11, 2012 at 8:45pmNow that is a real hillbilly barbeque!
Report this comment
flatbroke
Oct. 11, 2012 at 4:54pmThis is what we have to look FORWARD to if Obama is re-elected, hunting and eating squirrels for dinner?
Report this comment
Harvey
Oct. 11, 2012 at 4:36pmYou people can make fun all you want to but iam telling you right now that if Obama gets another term in Office everyone will be eating squirell and anything else we can get hold of because food is going to get so expensive we cant afford to buy it.
Everyone had better think real hard before you vote this time.
Report this comment
Irememberamerica
Oct. 11, 2012 at 3:39pmYou should skin it, then kabob it, OUTSIDE if you will…
Transplanted redneck…
Report this comment
thegreatcarnac
Oct. 11, 2012 at 3:03pmThis could be a sad situation. It could be that someone captured or killed a squirrel near the apartment building just to eat. They were attempting to get the fur off. Apparently they had never cooked squirrel or any wild animal. It is sad people are starving in the obama economy. Obama is a disaster.
Report this comment
The_Almighty_Creestof
Oct. 11, 2012 at 3:37pmThen again, the name of the resident may be “Bullwinkle” and rather than preparing a meal, he may have just snapped and decided to get even for several decades of the squirrel getting top billing.
Report this comment
Talent-Keyhole
Oct. 11, 2012 at 2:51pmWell now, what us Southrons do is make “Berdoo” which is tasty dish of squirrel brains and fried or stewed tomatoes and okra. Unfortunately, squirrel brains can carry that Creauzfield-Jacob disease and you end up with the brains of a turnip after you get the sickness. That’s main reason that I shoot squirrels in my back yard using a .22 caliber pistol with supressor and a .22 short, Hit them in the eye and no brains to worry about. I’ve been eating squirrel pie (similiar to mincemeat pie only sweeter and more healthy) for some 60 years and ain’t lost a brain cell of my own yet. Momma used to tell me way back when I was a kid that doing that nasty thing with my hand would cause me to lose brain cells, but if anything, it made me smarters. Here, gimme that squirrel!
Report this comment
FstEti
Oct. 11, 2012 at 1:58pmNow see, another opportunity for a Michigan entrepreneur: “Squirrel on a Stick” food carts”. They could be marketed as an alternative to the more mundane hot dog carts. Squirrel without fur would be $1.00 extra.
Report this comment
hauschild
Oct. 11, 2012 at 1:25pmSprechen sie Hasenpfeffer???
Report this comment
Capt_Gregg
Oct. 11, 2012 at 1:07pmA friend of mine went to welcome a new Somalian immigrant that had just moved into their apartment building. She found the woman preparing to light a wood fire in the oven.
Report this comment
zenjak
Oct. 11, 2012 at 12:55pmOdd. Here it is, right before the VP debate, and Joe Biden is conducting a cooking class in Michigan.
Report this comment
neoconpunk
Oct. 11, 2012 at 12:41pmNever done that. I love squirrel meat. Burning the hair would make the meat taste bad. You”re supposed to skin it. Wonder if he even removed the internals first. Weirdo. Could be he was following an Obama recipe and thought the squirrel was just a small dog.
Report this comment
Zacra
Oct. 11, 2012 at 12:39pmThe part they aren’t telling you is that the squirrel was set on fire while it was alive. It immediately ran away flaming and burned down this @$$holes house. Instant Karma.
Report this comment
Derfel Cadarn
Oct. 11, 2012 at 12:34pmHolland township officials respond to apartment fire by moving to ban squirrels from the area.
Report this comment
Tigress1
Oct. 11, 2012 at 12:32pmYou might be a redneck IF you blowtorch your squirrel dinner. There’s your sign!
Report this comment
Tri-ox
Oct. 11, 2012 at 12:01pmobamanomics = a squirrel in every pot!
Report this comment
mikeg642000
Oct. 11, 2012 at 12:30pmYou’re right, he was probably just trying to feed the family in this Obama economy.
Report this comment
Spyderco
Oct. 11, 2012 at 1:50pmHard times calls for desperate measures. I am glad that this person was taking on the personal responsibility to feed himself and not mooching off the system.
Report this comment
AmericanStrega
Oct. 11, 2012 at 11:57amWhat the heck was the squirrel-torcher going to do after burning all the hair off? Stick a wooden dowel through it and roasting it on the grill? Geez.
Report this comment
jungle J
Oct. 11, 2012 at 11:56amThe mentally ill have taken over..from top to bottom….there are a few sane here and there but we are enormously out numbered.
Report this comment
Eastinfection
Oct. 11, 2012 at 11:53amBBQ Squirrel:
~ 4 squirrels, quartered
~ 3 tbsp salt
~ 2 tsp pepper
~ 1 tsp garlic powder
~ 1 tsp onion powder
~ your favorite dry rub
~ charcoal briquets
~ 3 handfuls hickory chips
~ your favorite bbq sauce
In a large pot, boil the squirrel in water seasoned with the salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder for 1 hour or until tender.
Remove the squirrel from the water and pat dry. Coat with your favorite dry rub.
Place squirrel on grill across from the hot coals. Cover and smoke for 1 hour.
Baste squirrel with bbq sauce. Smoke for another half hour basting another 3 – 4 times.
Serve with mashed potatoes, sweet corn and buttermilk biscuits.
Enjoy!
Report this comment
AmericanStrega
Oct. 11, 2012 at 11:59amIs that you Dr. Swan?
Report this comment
travlman77
Oct. 11, 2012 at 12:01pmThank you for the recipe, I’m always looking for a new wild game recipe and this one sounds great.
Report this comment
Fubared
Oct. 11, 2012 at 12:37pmFricking julia childs in acid. Clean, gut, slow cook 45 min 6 tree rats in Dutch oven and make gravy last. Dumplings optional, don’t forget to eat your arugula and peas for moochie though.
Report this comment
4xeverything
Oct. 11, 2012 at 1:40pmI like mine with Shake-n-Bake. After a good visit to the preasure cooker of course.
Report this comment
Wool-Free Vision
Oct. 11, 2012 at 11:47amWelcome to the Third World, America! Enjoy your stay!
Brought to you by your unfriendly neighborhood statists in the DNC, with support from the SEIU, the NEA, and UN Agenda 21.
Report this comment
JeffJ1985
Oct. 11, 2012 at 12:15pmHolland is probably the most conservative part of Michigan. Not everything has to do with politics…
Report this comment
Wool-Free Vision
Oct. 11, 2012 at 1:23pmThat’s like saying that McMurdo is the most tropical place in Antarctica.
Report this comment
forthepeople
Oct. 11, 2012 at 11:30amIt’s Bush’s fault !
Report this comment
Hobo Boondocks
Oct. 11, 2012 at 11:50amI hope the squirrel wasn’t named Rocky and the dude burning off the fur was named Boris.
Report this comment
M13
Oct. 11, 2012 at 12:33pmI didn’t know Encinom likes squirrel for lunch.
Report this comment
Fubared
Oct. 11, 2012 at 12:41pmGoing out on a limb, I don’t think encinomom could fork tofu without getting squeamish. No offense to sybomb.
Report this comment
Robert in Texas
Oct. 11, 2012 at 11:22amWell that’s something you don’t see every day…
Report this comment
RightThinking1
Oct. 11, 2012 at 12:37pmRobert,
Lol…, nice one.
Report this comment
Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Oct. 11, 2012 at 11:22amGod help the families who have lost their homes, at the least no one got killed; and may justice be done to the moron who torched a squrrel with a blowtorch.
Report this comment
G-WHIZ
Oct. 11, 2012 at 11:33amThe “stove-inna-can” is safer and cheeper than blowtorch. OR…putta few charcoals inna can ontop of the stove-grate, or a few wood-chipps…light with match and crushed-paper underneath…is even cheeper…You-know…like some of those 2000+pages the Democrats didn’t read before they passed them?!
Report this comment
RCN598
Oct. 11, 2012 at 11:47amThat’s an odd way to dress and cook a squirrel, just sayin.
Report this comment
kaydeebeau
Oct. 11, 2012 at 11:19am*sigh * ever heard of skinning???
Report this comment
ALL4FREEDOM
Oct. 11, 2012 at 12:19pmProbably not. Some people are getting desperate. If Owebummer gets back in, just wait…
Report this comment
Gonzo
Oct. 11, 2012 at 11:19am..and yankees make fun of southerners. Eye roll.
Report this comment
forthepeople
Oct. 11, 2012 at 11:30amAmen
Report this comment
progressiveslayer
Oct. 11, 2012 at 11:40amSome of us have some sense G but I know what you mean.
Report this comment
Spyderco
Oct. 11, 2012 at 1:52pmAt least we know how to cook the critters. Blow torch? HAHAHAHAHA Rookie!
Report this comment
Oneirishman
Oct. 11, 2012 at 11:07amShould have killed the squirrel first, stupid.
Report this comment
RightThinking1
Oct. 11, 2012 at 12:38pmStop! Stop!
The one-liners here are cracking me up…
Report this comment
thegreatcarnac
Oct. 11, 2012 at 2:57pmCouldn’t…..secret service agents busted in and freed him so he could go to his debate tonight. He did, however, loose some hair plugs.
Report this comment