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Crews battle fire in northern Indiana downtown

LaGRANGE, Ind. (WANE) — A series of buildings in downtown LaGrange caught fire Tuesday morning and burned throughout the day.

LaGrange County dispatchers said around 10 a.m., a fire was reported in a series of three buildings housing a Family Dollar store, Gould Sports and an ethnic grocery in the 100 block of North Detroit Street in downtown LaGrange. Pictures and video provided to NewsChannel 15 show smoke rising high from the aged building.

As of 6:30 p.m., firefighters were still fighting the fire. Officials told NewsChannel 15 that part of one building — the Family Dollar store — had collapsed, but the other two structures were still burning. They were expected to fall, too.

It’s not clear how the fire started.

People were asked to avoid the downtown area as crews fought the fire. Still, a large crowd of onlookers gathered on the lawn of the LaGrange County Courthouse, which sits across Detroit Street from the row of buildings.