A Minnesota firefighter was hospitalized after he was hit by debris while battling a blaze that broke out at 117-year-old synagogue early Monday.
Duluth crews responded to the fire just before 2:30 a.m. at Adas Israel Congregation, the Star Tribune reports. When they arrived, firefighters noticed flames coming from a storage room on the building's east side.
A firefighter was recused from the synagogue's balcony level when he was struck by falling debris. He was treated at a local hospital and released, according to the Star Tribune.
Crews were ordered out of the building as conditions deteriorated inside, KBJR-TV reports. The synagogue's roof, as well as the building's front and east walls, collapsed after firefighters had left the building.
No one was inside the synagogue when it caught fire, and Assistant Fire Chief Brent Consie told the Star Tribune that the 7,900 square-foot building was "pretty much a total loss."
Investigators are trying to determine how the fire started and have not given an initial cause yet.
