SOUTH BEND — Flames roared 30 feet in the air and a blueish, black smoke forced its way out of the cracks of shut windows when the historic Lafayette Building caught fire about 8:20 a.m. Monday, June 8.
South Bend residents Tanisha Sams and Trinity Beaugard were two of the first people to spot the fire. But it wasn’t the fire that originally caught their attention. Rather, the smell from the smoke did.
“We smelt it and there were just these clouds everywhere, and I said, ‘What’s that smell?’ then we came around and we parked in front of the courthouse and we saw the smoke coming out of the window,” Sams said. “It was just a whole bunch of smoke and it was only one window.
“Once we starting walking, we saw the fire off the back, just coming out. … Then the fire trucks finally came.”
South Bend Fire Department Assistant Chief of Prevention and Fire Marshal Derek Erquhart told reporters the cause of the fire is unknown and will likely remain that way until all hot spots have been maintained and crews are able to initiate an investigation. There are no known injuries or fatalities.
In a press release issued at 3:40 p.m. Monday, SBFD said crews had “extinguished all visible hot spots, and there is no longer any smoke coming from the Lafayette Building.”
The department would “remain on scene for a few more hours to monitor conditions and ensure the fire is fully extinguished,” the release said and added that it was unsafe to enter the building Monday afternoon.
Fighting the fire
Erquhart said at the scene Monday morning that there were between 75 and 90 firefighters and more than 25 companies on scene helping put out the fire. Academy firefighters in red shirts helped by distributing bottles of water to firefighters.
It’s a “significant operation, one we haven’t seen in numerous years. It’s been a long time here in South Bend” Erquhart said. “It’s quite taxing on our resources, but it takes quite a bit to handle a fire this size.”
The fire extended across the entire fifth floor, collapsed the roof and shattered windows.
“The firefighters, when they got here, they started to bust down the front door because it was locked,” Beaugard said. “The windows were closed. Only the one at the top that’s all the way busted was open, but all those [other] ones were closed and you [could] see the smoke coming out of the crevices of the window.”
Sams said the windows were “busting and popping” and she could hear the glass shattering on the sidewalk below.
SBFD had two drones monitoring the building, which Erquhart explained have infrared sight capabilities that can determine where hot spots and flames are despite limited visibility because of the smoke.
“Those are assisting with that operation,” he said. “Since we can’t see active fire, we’re relying on those drones and it tells us where those hot spots are and where we can direct our water.”
The first company on scene “did make entry” and followed with a quick search. According to Erquhart, it is his understanding that the building was vacant and a quick search showed there wasn’t anyone in it.
“They tried to get a really quick search, didn’t see anything,” Erquhart said. “But the conditions of the fire were just too extreme at that point. Then a lot of fire [was] dropping all the way down to the first floor, so that’s what kind of dictated our operations to back everybody out, just to make sure that they were safe and then go to defensive fire operations.”
The County-City Building, 227 W. Jefferson Blvd., closed operations for the day as the smell of smoke flooded the first through fourth floors.
Wendy Backus, with the St. Joseph County Human Resources Department, said it’s not unusual to hear sirens downtown, but when she heard the sirens just outside, she looked out the seventh floor windows and saw black smoke.
“As the wind shifted, you could see flames and they [got] one area out and then it would pop up in another place,” Backus said.
Erquhart said in an older building like the Lafayette Building, “they’re built pretty good.” Erquhart doesn’t have any concerns of structural collapses at the moment, but it won’t be until they get the fire completely under control that they can perform a structural assessment.
According to a press release, “the city will also assess the integrity of the building to determine the next steps.”
Fire crews positioning on Lafayette Boulevard “are meant to be in a location where if we did have some concerns, that we are parked away from the building,” Erquhart said.
Historical landmark
As the South Bend Tribune reported back in 1903 and in 2019, the Lafayette Building was South Bend’s first five-story office building. Under the building’s original name, the Dean Building, it was declared a historical landmark in 1970 but was renamed the Lafayette Building in 1973.
The building sat vacant for many years and was in danger of demolition, according to Tribune reporting. In 2017, the county seized the building from the owner, who owed about $2 million in back property taxes. In 2018, the county transferred it to South Bend and the city allocated $1.5 million into cleaning and stabilizing the building.
In 2025, a purchase agreement with developer Lafayette OpCo LLC fell through after they asked the Redevelopment Commission to terminate the agreement due to “not have[ing] the financial capabilities to move forward with the project,” according to previous Tribune reporting.
The project was to turn the second through fifth floors into apartments with the first floor as retail space. After an extensive evaluation and evidence of a 1930 basement fire, which was never properly investigated or repaired, it was found that the apartments would be too heavy for the current structure to support.
The developer also said the open atrium in the middle of the building cuts into space that could have been used for apartments, which the developer said would be necessary to recoup the costs of development.
“The city and RDC had been pursuing possible redevelopment partners and projects,” the press release said, “but no active deal or partners are in place at this time.”
The building sits directly across from the County-City Building on Lafayette and right next to the abandoned People’s Church, 302 W. Washington St.
Email Tribune staff writer Juliane Balog at jbalog@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Update: Lafayette Building fire collapsed roof and shut down county building
Reporting by Juliane Balog , South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
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By Juliane Balog , South Bend Tribune | USA TODAY Network
