Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at Key North Surf Shop in Caseville Dec. 23, 2021.

Smoke billows out of the windows of an apartment above Key North Surf Shop in Caseville. The business was heavily damaged by fire Dec. 23, 2021.

A mainstay building in Caseville, Key North Surf Shop was heavily damaged by fire Dec. 23.

Despite the best efforts of more than three dozen firefighters, Key North Surf Shop in Caseville sustained heavy damage due to an early morning fire Dec. 23.

According to Caseville Fire Chief Ben Willenberg, at approximately 3 a.m. the Caseville Fire Department was paged out to a structure fire in downtown Caseville. The building contains Key North Surf Shop and other shops, with an apartment above.

"One occupant upstairs was awoken by a smoke alarm," Willenberg said. "He was able to get out. However, his cat did not make it."

As Caseville Fire Department was paged out, Windsor Fire was paged out simultaneously. Willenberg said he requested the Windsor page to be upgraded to a full assist.

The two fire departments worked to get the fire under control, but Willenberg said he quickly noticed it was a losing battle.

"Our two departments fought it for a while but realized how much work it would be, so I called out Fairhaven, Elkton-Oliver and Port Austin fire departments," Willenberg said. "Bad Axe brought in the county air trailer because we were using up a lot of air."

"Harbor Beach was also paged out for a (hazardous material) standby because the river is right there,” he continued.

Willenberg said the assist was extremely important.

"I called in a lot of help,” Willenberg said. “At one point I had over 40 guys there and everybody was working. It is huge to be able to do that. We probably would have a building laying on the ground if I couldn’t call in that extra help."

Willenberg said shortly after 6:30 a.m. firefighters were able to extinguish the final hotspot.

"It was a tough one to say the least," Willenberg said.

The fire caused extensive damage to the interior of the building, but Willenberg said the structure is still standing.

"There is heavy damage in the center of the building on the ground floor," he said. "We don't have an exact cause at this point."

Willenberg has been in contact with the state fire marshall to assist in evaluating the source of the fire.

In addition to area fire departments, Caseville Fire Department was assisted by Caseville Department of Public Works, DTE, Consumers Energy and Schuerer Ambulance.

Scott Nunn has been the assistant editor of the Huron Daily Tribune since October 2019.

Scott became a journalist a little later in life than many. Before joining the Tribune, Scott was the associate editor at Sunrise Printing & Publishing, where he worked with Eric Young in overseeing three weekly publications in Northern Michigan.

Prior to becoming a journalist, he was in graphic design, advertising sales, wholesale lumber and was even a pizza and short order cook. While he attended college for a couple stints, Scott attributes most of the skills he has acquired to his thirst for knowledge, excellent family and a history of wonderful mentors.

Scott is a self-described lover of food, YouTube junkie, proud handyman and a bit of a class clown.

Scott and his wife Shannon have four kids, three dogs and three cats.