Fire Devastates Historic Freeport Flour Company [VIDEO]

FREEPORT - Tragedy struck a historic Freeport business Tuesday night.

A massive fire, gutting the Swany White Flour Mill, was discovered around 4:30 in the afternoon.

Jesse Job, the owner of nearby Charlie's Cafe, witnessed the start of the blaze.  Job says it appeared as if the fire was under control, but then, a sudden eruption of smoke and flames changed the scene dramatically.

Job says the destruction of this well-known Freeport landmark is an extremely grim happening for the tightly-knit community.

Fire crews from five surrounding communities remained on hand to extinguish the blaze.

The cause of the fire is yet unknown, and no one was hurt.

The Swany White Flour Mill is a landmark in Freeport, having been in the community since 1903. Only a handful of people work at the mill today, milling and shipping organic flour all over the country.

Fortunately, WJON videojournalist Abby Faulkner got the chance to tour the inside of the flour mill last winter as part of a trip to Freeport. Skip to 3:15 in the video for a brief snippet of an inside look at this local treasure.

FREEPORT 1 - YouTube.