CLEVELAND, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A man was found dead following a fire at a historic tavern in the Manitowoc County village of Cleveland.
Sheriff’s officials say emergency crews were called to Hika Bay Tavern, 252 Lincoln Ave., just before 8 p.m. Sunday. The caller reported the second story of the building was engulfed in flames.
Crews found a 45-year-old man in the second-story apartment. He was unresponsive, and crews tried to save his life but were unable to.
An autopsy is scheduled for later in the week to determine the cause of death.
The tavern posted on Facebook that it is closed until further notice.
Cars constantly drive by the Hika Bay Tavern in the Village of Cleveland on Monday afternoon, looking at the damage a fire caused over the weekend.
Tom Warosh lives a couple of blocks away.
On Sunday night, his wife alerted him that something was happening a couple of roads over, where crews were responding to a fire.
“My wife said, ‘Can you hear the fire trucks?'” Warosh recalled. “And I looked out the front window, and you could see them going down towards the lake.”
Even still, the fire catches him by surprise.
“It’s just that small town atmosphere, you know. And, I guess, you never expect it.”
The Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office says preliminary information received indicated the second story apartment was fully engulfed.
The name of the man who died in that apartment has not been released yet.
“If I believe from what I’ve heard so far, this was a local man,” Warosh said. “People knew him, and people are a little bit in shock; they’re sad.”
State fire marshals continue work on the second story, as clear signs of smoke are visible on the exterior.
According to the Manitowoc County Historical Society, the building was built around 1850 as a boarding house and tavern for sailors.
Originally named the Village of Centreville in the 1850s, it was renamed Hika in 1856.
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