SAXON, Wis. - The Iron County Sheriff's Department was investigating a Wednesday morning fire that destroyed the former Jack Steinmetz residence on Carlson Road in Saxon.
A deputy said the fire was fully engulfed when the Saxon Fire Department responded around 8:30 a.m. in minus-11 degree temperatures.
No one was believed to be living in the house, which is at the end of a gravel road, about a mile south of U.S. 2. There are no other nearby houses.
A large wooden barn-type building across the road from the house was not charred by the fire.
The Steinmetz property at one time was the site of a sawmill operation.
Firefighters left the scene by 10 a.m. Wednesday and most of the house and related buildings had burned to the ground in the bitter cold weather, with wind whipping the smoke.
The cause had not been determined, according to deputy Chris Voyer, who was still at the scene around 11 a.m.
-Ralph Ansami