ST CHARLES, Mo. — Missouri's First State Capitol Building in St. Charles was damaged by a fire Sunday evening.
Captain Kelly Hunsel with the St. Charles City Fire Department said they received a call about smoke coming from the historic building Sunday evening.
She said when crews arrived, they found the smoke was coming from a fire in the crawl space area in the rear of the building.
Crews were able to put out the fire and limit damage to the crawl space area and part of the rear entrance.
Firefighters arrived just a few minutes after the first call.
The building is part of the state-owned property that preserves the building that housed the state's first state government from 1821 to 1826. The facility features governmental chambers, a residence, the governor's office and a dry goods store. The facility also includes a visitor center.
Missouri's First State Capitol Building is just off Historic Main Street St. Charles, a portion of the city that Hunsel said can present firefighting challenges.
"Main Street is a difficult space for us," she said. "We have a lot of multi-use buildings, we have a lot of very old structures which does present certain challenges when we talk about firefighting."
Hunsel said the district was busy Sunday night, which she said helped.
"Luckily, it was a busy evening," she said, "lots of people out and about and they were able to alert the fire crews very quickly."
Hunsel said they don't yet know the cause of the fire. An investigation is ongoing, she said.