An early morning fire has gutted an east end apartment building.

Thunder Bay Fire Rescue was called to a structural fire on McLaughlin Street around 2:30 a.m. Monday.

Crews encountered smoke coming from a second story window of the building, which was vacant at the time of the blaze.

They were able to enter the building and apply water to get the fire under control, before tackling an extension of the fire which got into the attic space.

It took the resources of 7 pumpers, an aerial ladder and a command vehicle several to get the fire settled down.

The nature of the fire is undetermined at this time but remains under investigation by Thunder Bay Fire Prevention.