Benefit dinner to support family who lost home, pets during recent fire | Crime

BALDWIN Twp. – Along with two of their beloved pets, Ann King and her family lost their entire home after it became engulfed in flames on the morning of Jan. 31.

The single-story residence, located on East Huron Road (US-23) in Baldwin Township, was deemed a total loss following the incident.

King is now hoping to eventually rebuild and, to aid her in this effort, several individuals and business owners throughout the local communities are stepping up to help.

This includes those from Tawas Axe N Lanes in Tawas City, and Great Lakes Exotics Cannabis Company in East Tawas.

The two establishments have teamed up to put on a spaghetti benefit dinner for the King family, which is slated for this Sunday, March 2, from 5-8 p.m. There is no set price, as attendance will be by donation.

Hosted by Great Lakes Exotics, the event will be held in the Tawas Axe N Lanes building, located at 444 W. Lake St. (US-23). To help raise even more funds, there will also be raffles for products/services, which have been donated by local businesses.

For further questions about the spaghetti benefit dinner, representatives can be reached by calling 989-820-6396.

Several area merchants have also placed donation jars in their stores, to collect contributions toward the rebuilding goal. These can be found inside The Vendor Emporium, located at 106 Newman St.; Great Lakes Exotics, 1779 E. US-23; and Tawas Bay Big Boy, 1222 N. US-23; all of which are in East Tawas.

A GoFundMe has been established, as well, for anyone who is able to make an online contribution. This can be found by going to gofundme.com and typing “Ann King” into the search bar, or by using the direct link, at gofundme.com/f/support-ann-king-a-family-in-need?qid=25279bc5a8fbc5e510c3c12c41559015.

As previously reported, the East Tawas Fire Department (ETFD), along with the Tawas City and Oscoda Township fire departments, Iosco County EMS, East Tawas Police Department and Iosco County Sheriff’s Office, were all dispatched to the King residence at about 11 a.m. on the day of the fire.

According to King, the incident was the result of an issue with a surge protector which had been in her bedroom, between the night stand and the bed.

She said she was surprised that this is how the fire originated, given that she didn’t have a lot of items plugged in at the time, and that the surge protector should have tripped off.

Her personal recommendation, to anyone who may have one of these in their homes, is to change it out at least once per year.

Subsequent information about the fire has also since been provided by the ETFD, and more details will be forthcoming in a future edition of this publication.