STEPHENSON, MI (WTAQ-WLUC) – A residential/commercial building in the UP is a total loss and first responders were still working on scene hours later to suppress a fire that started in downtown Stephenson Wednesday afternoon.
Stephenson City Hall and the Public Works Department said Menominee Street and Railroad Street were barricaded while crews responded to the blaze, which started around 12:30 CT/1:30 ET Wednesday afternoon. Staff at city hall said the structure on fire is known as the “old Solander building.”
A reporter on scene said heavy equipment was used to pull apart the building and spray water inside, and tanker trucks were refilling at the nearby Little Cedar River.
She spoke to Stephenson Fire Department Public Information Officer Jen Bastien, who said the fire started in an apartment on the upper floor of the building. The cause has not yet been confirmed, but Bastien said an electrical issue is suspected.
Bastien said there were four apartments on the upper floor and two businesses on the street level, but the building will now be a “total loss.” No injuries have been reported, but seven people will be displaced.
Multiple departments are on scene, including the Menominee County Sheriff’s Office, the Stephenson Fire Department, Middle Inlet Volunteer Fire Department, Escanaba Township Fire Department, Nadeau Township Volunteer Fire Department, Daggett Volunteer Fire Department, Ford River Fire Department, and Bark River Fire Department.
