AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (WWJ) -- As much of metro Detroit is dealing with damage caused by high winds that swept through the area Monday morning, one family is grateful they're uninjured after a downed power line destroyed their car.
Jose Rodriguez tells WWJ he and his family were just starting their day when the top of a pine tree in their front yard snapped off and fell to the ground, bringing down power lines on top of their Buick Enclave along the way.
"Saw the flash, heard a humming noise and was waiting for a pop for thunder, since I saw the flash, but I didn’t hear that. I heard the humming of a transformer, then I heard another louder boom and I knew there was a problem," Rodriguez told WWJ's Ron Dewey." "I came outside and I could see the flames coming from the grass where the power line was down."
The Auburn Hills Fire Department says it responded to the home in the 200 block of Juniper Avenue just before 7 a.m. Monday to find the vehicle fully engulfed. The fire department says they contacted DTE Energy, who responded to the scene.
Fire personnel stood by to protect exposures and secure the area while waiting for DTE’s arrival. Auburn Hills police assisted with blocking roads and evacuating the residents. Due to the high voltage of the lines, fire personnel were unable to extinguish the vehicle fire until DTE shut down the power. Once the electricity was shut down, the fire was extinguished without further incident.
No injuries were reported during the incident, but Rodriguez says the Buick was a total loss. His company car parked next to it had the back bumper partially melted and the front of a camper and a utility pole were charred but not destroyed.
"It was scary, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been," Rodriguez said. "My main concern was making sure the family got out of the house and once I got out of the house and saw how bad it was, it really wasn't as bad as I thought it was."
Authorities remained on the scene late Monday morning as they worked to restore power to the neighborhood.
At the height of Monday's wind storms, nearly 25,000 metro Detroit homes and businesses lost power.
As of 7 p.m., roughly 3,000 DTE customers were still in the dark.
Check the DTE outage map for the latest restoration estimations.