Updated at 4:30 p.m.: Revised to show that crews have started demolition.

Crews began knocking down what remained of the facade of the Ambassador Hotel, a 115-year-old historic structure in the Cedars neighborhood that was gutted by fire Tuesday morning.

Flames were visible for miles and thick, black smoke quickly spread across downtown after the fire broke out in the vacant building in the 1300 block of South Ervay Street, just south of downtown Dallas.

Dallas Fire-Rescue responded about 1:30 a.m. to the blaze, which took nearly 100 firefighters to bring under control. The fire was extinguished at 5 a.m. and by the afternoon, the remaining walls were being taken down by a crane swinging a wrecking ball.

Tuesday afternoon, officers took a man into custody in handcuffs from an unoccupied building across the street from the Ambassador. Police said the arrest was not related to the fire.

According to media reports, witnesses said the man had broken into the hotel Monday and was told to leave. Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesman Jason Evans said the cause of the destructive blaze has not been determined and no arrests have been made in connection with the fire.

Firefighters made a brief attempt to gain entry to see if anyone was inside, but "fire conditions were so advanced by that time that command ordered everyone to pull back and it was clearly going to be a defensive effort at that point," Evans said.

While crews worked, several surrounding streets were closed: Ervay Street at Gano and Griffin streets; St. Paul Street at Gano and Griffin and Browder Street at Belleview, Blakeney and Sullivan streets.

1 / 9A wrecking crew demolishes the historic Ambassador Hotel after it was gutted by a four-alarm fire earlier in the day just south of downtown Dallas, Tuesday, May 28, 2019. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News)(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer) 2 / 9A wrecking crew demolishes the historic Ambassador Hotel after it was gutted by a four-alarm fire earlier in the day just south of downtown Dallas, Tuesday, May 28, 2019. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News)(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer) 3 / 9A wrecking crew demolishes the historic Ambassador Hotel after it was gutted by a four-alarm fire earlier in the day just south of downtown Dallas, Tuesday, May 28, 2019. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News)(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer) 4 / 9A Dallas firefighter manned an aerial hose pouring water on the destroyed historic Ambassador hotel just south of downtown Dallas on Tuesday morning. Over 100 firefighters responded to the four-alarm fire.(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer) 5 / 9Dallas firefighters poured water on the historic Ambassador hotel just south of downtown Dallas.(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer) 6 / 9Dallas Fire-Rescue sprays water on the burned-out shell of the historic Ambassador Hotel after an overnight fire caused most of the empty building to collapse.(Brian Elledge / Staff Photographer) 7 / 9A Dallas Fire-Rescue team member sprays water from atop a ladder on the Ambassador Hotel after the overnight fire.(Brian Elledge / Staff Photographer) 8 / 9The vacant Ambassador Hotel, a 115-year-old historic structure in the Cedars neighborhood just south of downtown Dallas, was gutted by fire Tuesday morning, May 28. 2019. (Jason Evans / Dallas Fire-Rescue) 9 / 9The vacant Ambassador Hotel, a 115-year-old historic structure in the Cedars neighborhood just south of downtown Dallas, was gutted by fire Tuesday morning, May 28. 2019. (Jason Evans / Dallas Fire-Rescue)

Two smaller fires were reported on Corsicana and Harwood streets after embers from the fire floated to the rooftops of adjacent buildings and ignited construction materials.

"We actually had separate fires north of where we are in downtown Dallas that were reported on the rooftops of some of the buildings in that area," Evans said. "Thankfully, those fires didn't escalate."

Crews who were fighting the Ambassador blaze also were sent to the much smaller Corsicana fire.

The hotel suffered a "pretty significant collapse" straight down the middle, which aided the firefighters' efforts and also reduced the chances any of them would be hurt, Evans said.

He described the building as "a total loss."

No injuries were reported among firefighters, and no one aside from a caretaker for the hotel was on the property when the fire broke out.

Jerry Nappi III said he escaped from his trailer just 10 minutes before it was crushed by a crumbling wall. "I lost everything I own," he said.

Multiple ladder pipes, engine master streams and ground lines were used to pour water on the building, which suffered multiple collapses, Evans said.

The building had been hit by several smaller fires in its recent past, but nothing to this extent, he said.

1 / 13The main lobby is seen during a tour of the historic Ambassador Hotel in the Cedars neighborhood of Dallas on Jan. 30, 2019. (Ben Torres / Special Contributor) 2 / 13The Ambassador Hotel lobby, pictured on June 28, 2016.(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer) 3 / 13The historic Ambassador Hotel south of downtown Dallas on Ervay Street, shown on June 28, 2016. (Tom Fox / Staff Photographer) 4 / 13The main lobby inside the historic Ambassador Hotel seen in January 2019.(Ben Torres / Special Contributor) 5 / 13One of the rooms in the Ambassador Hotel, seen in June 2016.(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer) 6 / 13Developer Jim Lake Jr. posed in the lobby of the Ambassador Hotel in June 2016. He was planning to turn the hotel into apartments that would have been about 330 square feet.(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer) 7 / 13An antique book stand inside the main lobby of the historic Ambassador Hotel on June 28, 2016. (Tom Fox / Staff Photographer) 8 / 13Developer Jim Lake Jr. stepped onto the roof of the Ambassador Hotel in June 2016. Lake planned to convert the hotel into apartments.(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer) 9 / 13A registration desk, cashier booth and hotel safe were seen during a tour of the historic Ambassador hotel in the Cedars neighborhood on Jan. 30, 2019. (Ben Torres / Special Contributor) 10 / 13A warning tag for asbestos on the carpet inside the lobby during a tour of the historic Ambassador Hotel on Jan. 30, 2019. (Ben Torres / Special Contributor) 11 / 13Jim Lake Adaptive Urban Development representatives stood on the roof of the Ambassador Hotel during a tour on Jan. 30, 2019. (Ben Torres / Special Contributor) 12 / 13Jim Lake Adaptive Urban Development representatives viewed one of the rooms inside the Ambassador Hotel during a tour of the site on Jan. 30, 2019.(Ben Torres / Special Contributor) 13 / 13The historic Ambassador Hotel lobby pictured on June 28, 2016.(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)

The property, the oldest known historic hotel structure of its kind in Dallas, was in the midst of a mixed-use redevelopment project to transform it into apartments and retail space.

Plans called for 103 small apartment units that would have averaged about 500 square feet, a ground-level swimming pool, retail space on the first floor and other amenities. Renovations were under way but coming along slowly.

The Ambassador opened originally as the Majestic Hotel in 1904. The building was once considered Dallas' most luxurious residential property and was touted as the city's "first suburban luxury hotel." In its heyday, it hosted three presidents: Teddy Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson.

In the late 1930s, the brick and stone building was given a covering of stucco and renamed the Ambassador Hotel.

In 1955, it was converted to a retirement home, and it continued to operate as an apartment building for seniors through the late 1970s.

Developer Jim Lake Jr., who has presided over rebirths of the Bishop Arts District, Jefferson Tower, the Design District and Mayor George Sergeant's 109-year-old home on North Zang Boulevard, bought the property in 2015.

1 / 5The Majestic Hotel, later known as the Ambassador Hotel, is shown on a postcard with a message dated Jan. 31, 1907. 2 / 5The lobby of the Ambassador Hotel, seen in September 1979.(Clint Grant / The Dallas Morning News) 3 / 5Moses James, the Ambassador Hotel's banquet and restaurant manager, gave reservationist Kim Ratliff a goodbye hug in February 1990 as the hotel closed down.(David Leeson / The Dallas Morning News) 4 / 5The Ambassador Hotel, seen in July 1983.(Paula Nelson / The Dallas Morning News) 5 / 5Gordon Bellamy enjoyed the view of the Dallas skyline from the roof of the Ambassador Hotel in September 1979.(Clint Grant / The Dallas Morning News)

Staff writers Steve Brown, Robert Wilonsky and Claire Z. Cardona contributed to this report.