ESCANABA, Mich. — The Escanaba community is mourning after a fire broke out at the historic House of Ludington hotel, leaving several without homes and a local landmark now damaged.

The fire began Friday around 10:30 a.m. Fire crews arrived on reports of something burning, and conducted several searches of the building using thermal imaging to track down the source, according to the Escanaba Department of Public Safety.

Eventually, a storage room on the third floor of the hotel was found to be filling with smoke.

Crews quickly evacuated residents and staff.

Firefighters began removing material from the ceiling in an attempt to locate the fire, and doing so caused the fire to flashover and send two firefighters down a flight of stairs, according to police.

The officers were uninjured a

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