Northern Door County home that houses J-1 visa student workers is damaged by fire

EPHRAIM - An overnight fire caused extensive damage to a home on the north side of Ephraim that would house student workers coming to the area on a visa, authorities said Thursday.

The Door County Sheriff's Office received the call for the fire at 2854 Shannon Square about seven minutes before midnight Wednesday. The Ephraim Fire Department responded and found a 1?-story residence with fire in the front of the structure and extending up into the attic, Ephraim Fire Chief Justin MacDonald said to the Advocate.

According to the Door County Pulse, the residence would house four J-1 visa students who would work in summers at businesses owned by the building owners, Door County Rock & Gem and the Ephraim Motel, but no students were living there yet.

Two adults and a pet were living in the home but escaped before rescue personnel arrived, MacDonald said, and no injuries were reported Thursday.

The Ephraim department received mutual aid from the Baileys Harbor, Egg Harbor, Sister Bay/Liberty Grove, Jacksonport and Sturgeon Bay departments. It took firefighters less than an hour to extinguish the blaze but another three hours to clean up, execute a salvage operation and clear the scene, MacDonald said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. MacDonald didn't know if the building will be declared a total loss but said the estimated damage is $200,000 as of Thursday afternoon, which could change as the investigation continues and the owners' insurance company studies the damage.

Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or [email protected].

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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Door County home that houses J-1 visa student workers damaged by fire