Detroit-Area Family Who Lost Famous Felines Adds Kitty To Clan

FARMINGTON HILLS, MI – Will and Lauren Powers, the Farmington Hills couple who lost their home and famous cats in a fire last November, are slowly rebuilding their family and life together. On Sunday, they announced the addition of a new feline, Phoenix, who joins the Powers' two other cats, Hyperion and Polaris, as a member of the family.

Phoenix is named in homage to the mythological Phoenix, "a bird which is consumed by fire and then rises again from the ashes to become something new and live again," Will Powers in a Facebook post Sunday. He is a feline brother to Arcturus, who died in the family's fire on Nov. 12.

Since the fire, Will and Lauren Powers, as well as their new felines, have a temporary apartment in Novi. They also have been been spending much time on the road in an RV, visiting national parks and landmarks across the nation. Will Powers' social media posts show the family in Washington, D.C., at Disney World and on a beach in North Carolina.

"Our life got destroyed and our family killed," Will Powers told Patch on Sunday. "But we're trying to rebuild and live our lives and find something that gives us joy."

At the time of the fire, the Powers had three cats – Sirius, Arcturus and Cygnus – and were watching a fourth cat, Yuki, for a friend. Only the remains of Arcturus and Cygnus were found, and the fates of Sirius and Yuki remain a mystery.

Not only were the cats special to the Powers, they also were famous: Two of the cats were in the Guinness Book of World Records – Cygnus, for the longest tail, and Arcturus, for being the tallest cat.

The Powers' new cats are, indeed, special, but they cannot replace Arcturus, Sirius and Cygnus, Will Powers said. "They were an incredible group of cats. Famous yeah, but they had wonderful personalities. It's really hard to come home and not have them greet me at the door."

The fire has been attributed to a massage chair that had been plugged in, but turned off.

The Powers plan to rebuild their home on the same site of their former home. They have just finished the design phase and expect to get construction approvals and breaks ground in the next month or two, Will Powers said. Their new home will be similar in design to the one destroyed by fire.

Photos by Will Powers, used with permission