More questions than answers months after fire destroys 'highway house' near dimondale

Rachel Greco, Lansing State Journal
Updated ·2 min read

WINDSOR TWP. — More than three months after a fire destroyed the unusual, three-story, long-vacant "highway house" off Billwood Highway, fire officials still haven't determined the cause of the blaze.

The blaze, captured on a neighboring business's solar-powered surveillance camera fully engulfing the house at 9975 Billwood Hwy. at about 4:53 a.m. Oct. 22, resulted in a "total loss," Windsor Township Fire Department Assistant Chief William Fabijancic Jr. said.

"There's not a whole lot of stuff that was left to investigate," he said. "We'll leave it open just in case somebody comes forward with information or something but based on everything that we've done so far, we're unable to determine the cause."

The home earned its nickname thanks to its close proximity to Interstate 96. It had been vacant and was crumbling and heavily vandalized for years before the early morning fire.

The "highway house" on Billwood Highway in Dimondale, pictured Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, from the Billwood Highway overpass on I-96.
The "highway house" on Billwood Highway in Dimondale, pictured Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, from the Billwood Highway overpass on I-96.

The house had no gas or electricity at the time of the fire, Fabijancic Jr. said in October, and it had burned to the ground when firefighters arrived at the property. A home adjacent to the property sustained significant damage, but no one was injured at either property.

"There's nothing that indicates," the fire was intentional, Fabijancic Jr. said.

"There's more questions than there are answers," he said.

A hand railing constructed of PVC materials along the spiral staircase in the "highway house" on Billwood Highway in Dimondale. The original owner and architect started building the home more than two decades ago but died in 2011. It has never been occupied. Vandals and time have ravaged the home, which will go into foreclosure if delinquent taxes aren't paid by March.

The devastating fire came more than three decades after Asim Al-Azzawi, an engineer who immigrated to the United States from Iraq in 1951, obtained a permit to start building the house in 1991. He never finished the home and died in 2011. His brother Amad Al-Azzawi, who lives out of state, had been trying to sell the property ever since.

The towering, cream-colored house sat on just under an acre near the Grand River and overlooked the interstate where, about 100 feet away, vehicles rushed past it daily.

The home no longer stands on the property.

"Fire destroyed it," Amad Al-Azzawi said. He said he intends to put the property on the market soon, but hasn't listed it yet.

He'll likely list the price for the land at $35,000, he said.

Contact Reporter Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on X @GrecoatLSJ .

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This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Windsor Township's highway house burned, fire officials still don't have answers