The building just east of the city of De Pere on Dickinson Road was all too familiar to Ledgeview firefighters.
A formerly flat roof had been modified multiple times. A single business,The Swan Club, replaced by two other tenants about 15 years ago: New Hope United Methodist Church and the Chicago Street Pub, Grill & Banquets. Some firestopping features had been added, but not as many as it turned out were needed.
"This is the building that's our Achilles heel," longtime Ledgeview Fire Chief Tom Guns said about 11 p.m. Friday, as one of the crews from multiple local departments used an aerial ladder to continue to spray water on hot spots in a building, at 1950 Dickinson Road, that had been burning more than six hours.
Ledgeview's firefighters, Guns said, had held multiple training sessions on the site because the structure poses multiple challenges.