Firefighters shut down part of downtown Austin as they battled a fire Tuesday morning.
The 911 call went out around 4 a.m. The caller reported seeing smoke coming out of the abandoned Travis Building at the intersection of Guadalupe and 18th Streets.
Firefighters arrived quickly and found flames on the first floor. It spread to the second and third floors through an open interior stairway.
Firefighters called out two alarms, bringing in 20 trucks and roughly 60 firefighters.
“(It’s) a pretty dangerous fire; the fact that this building being abandoned for so long. It doesn't have any fire protection features. Add to that a lot of broken windows, a lot of holes in the floor,” said AFD Battalion Chief Palmer Buck.
Despite the dangers of the condition of the building, firefighters were familiar with the layout. The Travis Building is used as a training facility for the Austin Fire Department.
“Every firefighter in the Austin Fire Department had been through this building at one time or another doing training. We're aware of the layout. More importantly we're aware that the building did have inherent dangers because of the fact of it being abandoned and it been used for training. The fire fighters were careful, cautious as they went through and worked on extinguishment,” said Buck.
Although the Travis Building is abandoned, firefighters say it's a well known spot for some homeless people to stay overnight.
They checked through the floors to make sure no one was inside. It was empty.
Firefighters reported one minor injury. A firefighter was injured in fighting the flames. He was treated and released.
When the building is cleared, AFD will bring in investigators to determine the cause of the fire. The cost of damage is not expected to be high since the building was abandoned.
