Crews

NEW BUFFALO, Mich. - The Coast Guard, Berrien County and New Buffalo emergency response crews spent Saturday afternoon searching for a young Illinois man who went missing in Lake Michigan. Around 3 p.m. EST the man, identified by the Coast Guard as Mitchell Fajman, and two of his friends were kayaking off the coast of New Buffalo inside the breakwall when high waves caused their boats to capsize. One of the men managed to make it to the shore on his own and another was rescued from the water.

Several area fire departments are lending mutual aid with manpower and tankers to Penn Township firefighters in fighting a pole barn fire in the 62000 block of Dogwood Road. Fire crews were sent to the scene just before 5 a.m. Monday to find the building fully engulfed.

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY -- Part of a major St. Joseph County road is closed this week. State Road 331 in Mishawaka closed from Lincolnway to 12th Street as crews install a drainage pipe. This is part of the 331 project to widen and realign the road. Homeowners and businesses will have access to 331 via Lincolnway. But they won't be able to get out onto 12th Street. All other traffic will have to detour because there will be a giant hole near 12th Street as crews install the large concrete drainage pipes.

All power has been restored to the more than 3,000 Midwest Energy Cooperative customers who lost service in Saturday evening's storms, according to a release. A spokesperson from Midwest Energy Cooperative said the storms that rolled through southwest Michigan and Northern Indiana Saturday evening resulted in more than 3,000 customers without power. Crews worked through the night to restore service by 3:30 a.m.

The DNR says they were called to assist in the search for a man who may have drowned in Fletcher Lake. Crews started searching for the man, but had to pull out after Saturday night's storms moved in. They are now back in the water. The DNR says they will use side-scan sonar for as long as they can Saturday night to try and aid in that search.

ELKHART COUNTY - A scary crash in a construction zone Thursday morning sent one man to the hospital with serioushead injuries and closed a busy road more than two hours. Police say the stretch of road where the crash happened - U.S. 6 - is particularly dangerous. Part of U.S. 6 near County Road 15 was down to one lane just before 9:30 a.m. with several signs and flaggers on both ends, warning drivers to slow for work alongside the road. The westbound semi driver from Illinois, Cirilo Corral, told crash investigators he was going between 45 and 50 miles an hour when he realized he didn't have enough time to avoid hitting the stopped cars in front of him. To avoid a rear end collision, Corral swerved into the left lane, hitting an eastbound Ford Taurus head on. The driver of the car, Jay Stricler, of Marion, IN wasn't wearing his seatbelt and was air lifted to South Bend Memorial Hospital with serioushead injuries.

SOUTH BEND -- Fire crews in South Bend assisted a motorist early Sunday morning when his car caught fire for an unknown reason. According to a South Bend Police and Fire dispatcher, a motorist called for help at 3:37 a.m. Sunday after his car caught fire. He pulled into a Phillips 66 gas station in the 3400 block of Lincoln Way West and evacuated his vehicle. Crews were able to put the fire under control and clear the scene by 4:21 a.m. There is no word yet on what caused the fire.

A gas leak near Riley High School forced several streets to be closed off. South Bend firefighters say someone hit a gas line near Milton and Carroll streets about 8:30 Wednesday morning. NIPSCO was called in and capped the leak by about 10, but not before emergency crews went door-to-door checking on those living in the area.  “We went around, we did a radius of several blocks,” said Battalion Chief Carl Buchanon. “There are a lot of these homes that are already vacant.

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY -- Drivers beware: delays are the name of the game on U.S. 31. The beam project got a late start Thursday. That means delays are to be expected Thursday night and throughout the weekend. Orange cones and barrels line a stretch of U.S. 31 in St. Joseph County - two miles south of the bypass near Whitmer Road. Workers have gotten used to the heat and humidity, and for much of the day, they've gotten used to waiting. For five hours, crews spent the day getting the two sides of the highway ready for a much-publicized bridge project.

SOUTH BEND -- Crews responded to a house fire Thursday on the corner of Ford and Dundee Streets in South Bend. Dispatchers say a call came in at 11:45 a.m. Thursday. When crews arrived to the home in the 3100 block of West Ford Street, there was heavy smoke coming from the home. No one was home when the fire started. It apparently started in a back bedroom.   Stay tuned to WSBT-TV and wsbt.com for more information.