A fire broke out on the roof of the administration building at South Arkansas Community College’s west campus late Friday night.
The 113-year-old building, known as the 1905 Junior College Building on the National Register of Historic Places, caught fire after what has been presumed to be a lightning strike hit the roof around 10:30 p.m. as severe thunderstorms moved through the area. The El Dorado Fire Department arrived on scene at 10:45 p.m. and spent the entire night, and well into Saturday, fighting to extinguish it. “We had a real problem with this fire because it is such an old building. The attic is over 12 feet tall and we are having issues reaching the roof,” said Assistant Chief and Fire Marshall Jason Evans.