Firefighters from the Twin Cities spent more than three hours on scene
at 100 Washington St. North near the Rotary. The fire was reported
shortly after 6 p.m. Authorities closed Washington Street North and set
up detours for about two hours. Crews cleared the scene at around 9:30
p.m.

“There is no cause at this point,” said Auburn Fire Platoon Chief
Scott Hunter. “When we got here, there was pretty much smoke coming out
through all the eaves of the building.”

The vacant brick building is owned by Robert Morin, who has been
working for the past two years to sell the property — which includes
that building, the white building next to it and a parcel of land. The
brick structure has “Winter 1908” imprinted on the top and sits right
where traffic from the rotary merges with Washington Street North.

Hunter said that the blaze appears to have started in the attic area
of the building, where it torched roof tresses, and burned an area
around the loading dock, located between the two buildings on the
property. He estimated the damage at between $15,000 and $20,000.

Morin said that firefighters had a tough time determining
where exactly the fire was in the building. He said the empty building
is used as a storage center for equipment from his construction
company, CRM Construction.

“We had a tentative buyer in there today (Monday) looking to buy the
place,” Morin said. “I’m insured, but I’ve been working two years to
sell the white building and this building as one parcel.”

Morin said he did not know where Monday evening’s fire left him in regards to the potential sale of the building.