Cause uncertain for NE Indiana downtown fire

BLUFFTON, Ind. — Investigators haven’t yet figured out what caused a fire in a northeastern Indiana city that destroyed one century-old downtown building and badly damaged two neighboring buildings.

The fire broke out Monday morning in the building that houses the Hideaway Lounge in downtown Bluffton, leaving much of the three-story brick structure in rubble.

Fire Chief Robert Plummer tells WPTA-TV that the thick walls of the brick buildings helped slow the spread of the blaze in the city about 20 miles south of Fort Wayne.

Mayor Ted Ellis tells The Journal Gazette that three families have been displaced from apartments in the building but that many community members have offered to help.