Fire has caused extensive damage to a historic building in Davenport. Firefighters were still on the scene at mid-day, trying to put out the last flames at the lodge on Credit Island. Fire Chief Lynn Washburn says the first call came in just before 8 am, followed by a second call from someone in Rock Island, across the Mississippi River. And soon after the first crews arrived, flames broke through the roof.
Firefighters initially went inside to fight the blaze, but after sections of the ceiling started falling, they had to retreat.
Washburn says she has no idea yet where the fire started in the lodge, or what caused it. There are no reports so far that anyone was in the building this morning.
She also can't say yet whether the lodge is a total loss. Ironically, the wall put up to protect the lodge from recent flooding by the Mississippi River hampered firefighters in their efforts to save it. Just two years ago, the city extensively renovated the building that's about 100 years old.