No cause has been identified of a Sunday evening fire that damaged a home in Empire.

Units from Empire and Glen Arbor townships, as well as Centerville-Solon and Elmwood townships, responded to a structure fire on W. Wilce Street at a house owned by Carol Pursel. According to Empire Fire Chief Ryan Deering, the fire started near the boiler in Pursel’s home and took crews about 15 minutes to contain and keep from spreading further into the house.

“We were able to contain the burn damage to the back corner of the house,” he said. The home did sustain smoke damage, but not much in the way of water damage, Deering said. On Sunday night, Pursel stayed with some friends.

Deering said firefighters had to ventilate the home to help contain the fire. Due to the extremely cold temperatures, Deering said the thermometer at the fire station read about six below zero at the time of the call, and that the home’s water pipes started breaking as the air cooled inside the house. He said he asked that the Empire Village Department of Public Works shut off water to the house to prevent any further damage.

Jay Morris, an American Red Cross official with the Traverse City office, said Tuesday that he had talked with Pursel and she is doing well. She has secured a place to live and will be able to continue running her bookkeeping business and is working with her insurance company to get the damage to her home repaired.