Royal Oak firefighters battle house fire in frigid temps

ROYAL OAK, Mich. (WXYZ) - Challenged by the bitter cold temperatures, Royal Oak Firefighters struggled with a fire on Midland Street Tuesday morning.

Just before 8 o'clock, the fire department got the call to a house fire at 712 Midland. Flames broke out in the back of the house in what appears to be the kitchen, and then spread to the attic.

Although it has not been determined what actually caused the fire, there were no injuries to the fire crew and no one was in the house at the time.

Chief Chuck Thomas is most grateful to a couple of citizens who brought coffee to the firefighters as they tried to do their job in the numbing cold, which was "0" degrees on arrival.

With the temperature being so low, the chief had to rotate the fire team to keep them from getting too cold. He had two shifts of fire personnel on the scene.

Chief Thomas was also thankful to the DPW, which had a salt truck on site spreading salt on the sidewalks and side streets to keep it safe for them.

Investigators will now try to determine how the fire started.