Firefighters spend hours battling blaze at historic Lafayette Building

It was a chaotic scene when ABC57 first arrived on South Lafayette Boulevard in downtown South Bend.

The historic Lafayette Building up in flames, with smoke billowing into the blue sky.

The call came in a little bit after 8 am, and South Bend fire crews swarmed the building within minutes.

Firefighters tried to enter the building but weren't able to stay in for long due to treacherous conditions.

"Life safety is first and foremost, right? We want to make sure there's nobody inside, no potential for injuries so like I said, unoccupied building, we still went in, that initial quick search just to make sure we didn't see anybody, and then we just had to retreat because of the conditions on that top floor," said South Bend fire assistant chief Derek Erquhart.

According to Assistant Chief Derek Erquhart, the roof of the building collapsed in several areas.

No civilians or firefighters were injured.

One witness said it was pretty clear early on, this was not going to be a small situation.

"Seen a bunch of fire trucks coming through, passing us on the road, we went behind the building, and that's when we seen all the smoke coming out and the flames," said Troy Gladura, South Bend resident.

At 11 am, the South Bend fire department announced the fire was under control but is still asking the public to avoid the area.

One witness told ABC57 she was surprised how quickly the fire tore through the building.

"When it kept spreading from window to window, and then I saw it roll to the other side, so it was on the side of the building and then somehow, it got to the front of the building so and it escalated pretty quickly so maybe 5, 10 minutes it was already spreading," said Nakyia Stevens, South Bend resident.

Shortly after ABC57 arrived on scene, courthouse two was evacuated.