PLUM CITY – More than 80 firefighters and EMS personnel responded to a restaurant fire in downtown Plum City early Saturday morning. While no one was inside at the time or hurt, the restaurant will be closed indefinitely.

Owner Suzy Trotterchaud said she’s not up for talking much right now, but indicated she plans to reopen when she can.

“Please come when I do my grand opening for my reopening,” she said.

On the business Facebook page she wrote: “With all that went on last night, we would like to say thank you to all the firefighters and first responders, that were there at the fire. We will also be closed until further notice, thank you everyone that has been supportive before, during, and after the unexpected events of last night, and that no one was hurt. Thank you for your understanding.”

The blaze was called in at 12:33 a.m. June 29 when smoke was seen pouring out of the building’s doors, soffits and kitchen vents, Plum City/Union Fire Chief PJ Hines said.

“The caller reported hearing crackling and explosions coming from the building,” he said. “I knew we were going to have our hands full right away.”

No one was home in the apartment above the restaurant nor in the bar. Hines said he would consider the building a total loss. While the cause has not been officially determined and is under investigation by the State Fire Marshal, it will be released once the investigation is complete, Hines said. No foul play is suspected.

Twelve departments came to Plum City/Union’s aid.

“We don’t have city water in town, so we don’t have hydrants,” Hines said. “We have to haul all of our water. A lot of those agencies were tenders. We ended up setting up at the duck pond and pumping out of that as well, to feed the ladder trucks.”

The fire was fully extinguished by 8 a.m. Hines said the building’s layout made fighting the fire a challenge. It’s actually comprised of three different buildings that were connected or tied into one another at some point, with multiple renovations over the years.

“There are roofs on top of roofs, so we had a hard time extinguishing the fire once it got into some of the attic parts,” Hines said.

The following agencies and businesses assisted Plum City/Union Fire: Alma Fire Department, Ellsworth Fire Department, Elmwood Area Fire Department, Durand Fire Department, Lund Fire District, Menomonie Fire, Mondovi Fire Department, Nelson Volunteer Fire Department, River Falls Fire Department, Spring Valley Fire Department, United Fire and Rescue, Maiden Rock/Plum City Ambulance Service, Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, Wisconsin State Fire Marshal, Xcel Energy, We Energies, and Chippewa Valley Energy (Bob and Dillon Binkowski) came out with fuel truck.

“We also send a thank you to Durand Kwik Trip, Molly’s on Main, and the several other community members that provided food, water, ice, Gatorade, and etc.” Hines said.