GAYLORD -- Raging flames in the attic of a former lumber store in Gaylord greeted firefighters in pre-dawn hours, a fire that ended with the building in ruins.
A former Carter Lumber Company store on West M-32 in Gaylord caught fire early Monday and firefighters arrived at the scene at 5:40 a.m. No one was injured, but the blaze proved a challenge to extinguish.
"We don't have a hydrant here, so we have to truck in the water," said Chief Tim Warren of the Otsego County Fire Department. "We had to get the road commission to come out and work the loader to move the snow. We couldn't get the trucks in here."
The lumber store opened in the spring of 2001, but closed in December 2006 after both a Home Depot and a Lowe's store opened in Gaylord. The property sat idle since then, with snow removal foregone during winter months.
Real estate signs now adorn the front lawn. The 22,500-square foot building was constructed and passed occupancy inspections in 2000, county building officials said.
Firefighters battled the fire for hours, with pockets of flames still visible within the smoking structure after three hours of work. Four other fire departments responded through mutual aid agreements, including those in Johannesburg, Wolverine, Vanderbilt and Elmira.
Warren said the fire's cause remains unknown, but it doesn't appear to be suspicious. It might have started near the gas meter, perhaps from falling ice, he said.
Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Dale Hardy, the fire marshal, investigated the fire and determined it was not arson.
"It started with a broken gas line going into the building, most likely due to snow and ice coming off the roof," Hardy said.
Carter Lumber Company has stores in Cadillac, Ludington, Muskegon and Mount Pleasant.
Company officials will visit the burned building this week, said Tim Albanese, construction superintendent for Carter Lumber Company.
"The facility was listed for sale, including a lot of acreage. We'll schedule a clean-up, re-evaluate and re-list the property for sale," Albanese said.
The company bought the land in 1994, which includes more than 30 acres.
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