No one was injured by a fire that destroyed a Bay City funeral home, authorities said late Friday.

Taylor Bros. Funeral Home employees, who alerted authorities to the fire at 10:47 a.m. Friday morning, escaped the building without injuries. All of the deceased held in the funeral home were removed before they could be damaged by the blaze.

鈥淚t is also important for the public to know that there were no 鈥榙iminished souls鈥 damaged as a result of the fire,鈥 according to a Bay City Fire Marshal鈥檚 Office news release.

The funeral home, a 15,000-foot building located at 2313 Ave. I, was destroyed by the fire, which took firefighters three and a half hours to extinguish, according to the news release. No firefighters were injured by the fire, and the damage to the funeral home was not reported as of Saturday.

The cause of the fire was under investigation as of Friday. The State Fire Marshal鈥檚 Office is assisting with the investigation.

On Saturday, because the investigation is in the preliminary stages, Bay City Fire Marshal Daniel Shook said he could not say whether the fire was accidental or criminal.

鈥淲e have to consider all options this early in the in game,鈥 he said.

Chase covers breaking news, crime and courts for the Advocate. He can be reached at 361-574-1286, crogers@vicad.com or at .

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Breaking News & Public Safety Reporter

Chase writes about crime and courts for the 足交视频 Advocate. He grew up in the Dallas鈥揊ort Worth area before attending Texas State University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in mass communication and journalism.