Fire damages Empire Community Center

Firefighters had to retreat while fighting a blaze Saturday afternoon at the Empire Community Center after the roof began to fail.

According to a press release, crews from the Modesto Fire Department and Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District responded to the fire just after 4:45 p.m. at the center, 98 First St., in Empire.

Fire crews found the community center “heavily involved with fire,” the press release said. “While making an interior fire attack, the roof began to fail and fire companies had to retreat and fight the fire from the exterior.”

No one was injured and no one was in the building at the time of the fire.

A second alarm was sent out and a total of 23 firefighters responded to battle the blaze. Stanislaus Consolidated Chief Randall Bradley said in the release Saturday evening that the fire was under investigation and the cause was not known.

This story was originally published May 30, 2015 at 7:59 PM with the headline "Fire damages Empire Community Center."