(Michigan City, IN) - Arson is a possible cause of a fire that gutted most of an old factory building in Michigan City over the weekend.

 

The old Pullman Yards building on the city's west side reportedly contained millions of dollars in inventory which was lost in the blaze on Saturday.

 

Mikropour, a maker of air filters, operated from part of the over century-old structure once used to make Pullman train cars.  

 

Reports indicate that arson has not been ruled out because the vast building has been victimized frequently by vandals. The Indiana State Fire Marshal's Office is assisting in the investigation to determine the fire's cause.

 

Coolspring Township Volunteer Fire Department was called to assist in providing an additional water source for knocking down the flames.

 

Coolspring Township Assistant Fire Chief Warren Smith said heavy black smoke was created because the rubber roof seemed to be the only part of the structure that was burning after firefighters responded at about 2 p.m.

 

"It looked like mainly the roof was on fire. It was a rubberized roof with probably a bunch of tar from years of just repairing that roof," Smith said.

Firefighters from Coolspring were there for about five hours, while firefighters from Michigan City Fire Department remained for several more hours, putting out hotspots after most of the flames were extinguished.