Damage is estimated at a quarter of a million dollars in a structure fire that broke out late Monday afternoon in Brigden.
St Clair Township Fire Chief Walt Anderson says the former creamery building on Boswell St. had been transformed into three apartments.
Five tenants made it out safely but three-foot-thick brick walls and bitterly cold temperatures made their job very difficult.
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Chief Anderson says the landlord was trying to thaw frozen pipes with a torch when he noticed smoke coming from the walls.
The building is said to be a write-off.
