The St Joseph Fire Department had a busy morning Friday.

An investigation continues into the cause of a suspicious fire shortly after midnight at a vacant house in the 3400 block of South Eleventh Street.

Investigators say utilities had been shut off at the house, which ironically belongs to a retired firefighter who has moved to Oregon.

The home was a total loss.  Authorities closed all traffic on Eleventh street for nearly two hours as crews poured water on the burning home. We have photography below courtesy of Will Corlett.

Later in the morning, crews were dispatched to St Joseph Plastics on Fifth Avenue, where a plastic-shredding device caught fire.  The fire produced a large cloud of smoke, visible a mile away.  Crews were able to put the fire out within about 20 minutes.

There were no injuries in either fire.