CULVER, Ind. --- An old abandoned restaurant on the corner of Lake Street and Lake Shore Drive in Culver went up in flames Wednesday.

Fire officials responded to calls of a structure fire just before 5 p.m. Several departments from the two neighboring counties assisted in putting out the flames.

The building that caught fire used to be an old restaurant called City Tavern but it hasn’t been occupied for four years.  Now, the whole west side of the building has collapsed and fallen bricks and debris litter the surrounding areas.  

Local radio station WKVI reported that the building was deemed unsafe earlier this year and was under a demolition order from the town of Culver. The owner appealed that order was set to appear in front of a judge at the end of the month.  

Culver’s Assistant Fire Chief Ken Vandedutte said thankfully, because the building was unoccupied there was no one inside when the fire broke out.

“At this time now we do not have any injuries, occupants or firefighters, police, or EMS personnel,” Vandedutte said. “Great job by Culver fire department and a huge thank you to you our surrounding departments. Plymouth came running with an aerial that’s still in the works, Monterey fire is here. These small departments always come running when we need help.”

Fire officials are still unsure what caused the fire. The fire marshall is involved and an investigation is in the works.

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