Two region fire departments were busy on Christmas. The Portage Fire Department reports a stove fire in a third floor apartment of Park Place Apartments that afternoon, caused all the residents of the 24 unit building to be relocated for the night, due to a significant amount of exposed wiring from the fire, which was isolated to the walls on third and second floor, and a small area of the attic. At last check, power to all but two of the severely affected apartments had been restored as of this morning.

Meanwhile the Times reports a homeowner on the 11-thousandth block of Parish Avenue called the Cedar Lake Fire Department after he was awoken by his smoke alarm to find his garage and home on fire around 10pm. Published reports say the garage was a total loss, and a car and pickup housed inside the garage were destroyed, while the home's damage was estimated at around 80-thousand dollars. No one was injured in either incident, and the cause of both fires are reportedly accidental in nature.

(Cedar Lake Fire Photo Courtesy of the Times)

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