Michigan's largest deer processing facility severely damaged by fire

Country Smoke House in Almont burned for hours

ALMONT, Mich. – An overnight fire severely damaged Michigan's largest deer processing facility.

Country Smoke House in Almont burned for hours after it caught fire Thursday night. It took six fire departments to stop the blaze.

Country Smoke House is known for its jerky, smoked meats and barbecue. The business was in the process of expanding the building 36,000 feet.

Steve Francis was out of town for his father's funeral when he got the call that his business was on fire.

The Francis family has been hit hard recently. Francis suffered a severe heart attack before his father died.

"We've had a rough roller coaster of 10 days, between his heart attack, my grandfather's passing away, now this," Stephanie Doss said. "They say it comes in three. We hope that we're done."

Doss said the smokehouses were not running at the time of the fire. The cause remains under investigation.

Francis said he plans to rebuild.


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