Sharyn Jackson, Patt Johnson, Christopher Pratt, William Petroski and Annah Backstrom

cpratt2@dmreg.com

The Des Moines Fire Department is asking for anyone with pivotal video footage of the initial onset of the fire at the Younkers building to assist investigators.

Footage taken with camera phones from the time before firefighters arrived could help with the investigation, said Des Moines Fire Department spokesman Brian O'Keefe. Investigators are hoping to see video that shows the lower level, where flames were coming from, or any vehicles or activity in the area. People with video should call the fire department at 515-283-4240.

O'Keefe said it is too early for investigators to determine if the cause of the fire is suspicious. So far, he said, "nothing was witnessed."

Flames were no longer visible from the Younkers building fire early Saturday afternoon, but high levels of smoke indicate "it's more than smoldering,"

"There's more smoke now than there was an hour ago," O'Keefe said.

Crews from an Ankeny demolition company are expected head to the former Younkers building to remove construction scaffolding on two sides of the building and street debris.

C & C Demolition workers were called in with large crane trucks to take down the scaffolding, which is set up along parts of the building that are not structurally sound, O'Keefe said.

Firefighters were still at work trying to put out the fire, which still had billows of smoke rising from the pile of rubble.

"This is an 8 story building that has been compress into 2 stories," O'Keefe said. "There could be fires hiding in there."

The wind is expected to pick up, which also could reignite any smoldering embers, he said.

The building, which was being renovated into apartments and retail, did not have an active fire alarm or sprinkler system, O'Keefe said. Some of the first responders to the building reported hearing and seeing embers in the elevator shafts, he said.

"They knew the fire was up higher," he said.

An underground tunnel that connected the former Younkers building to nearby buildings also was pushing heat and smoke from the fire.

More than a foot of water filled the food court in the basement of the Partnership Building. Crews were expected to safely pump out the water today.

It was nearly business as usual at the Downtown Marriott Hotel Saturday as guests dined in the first floor restaurant and other checked in and out of the hotel, which is about a block from the fire scene.

The hotel set up a food and rest area for firefighters in a first floor conference room.

Fire investigators have not been able to enter the building yet. Investigators were gathered near the command center for a briefing around 1:30 p.m. Additional investigators from Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms have arrived at the scene to assist.

3:20 update:

Firefighters are still working to extinguish a fire that began overnight in downtown Des Moines's historic Younkers building.

An active fire is contained to the lower levels, but firefighters can't get inside the building, said Des Moines Fire Department spokesman Brian O'Keefe.

"Due to the structural integrity, we can't make interior attack; and due to the height, there's standoff distance so in the event it continues to collapse, no one will be hurt," O'Keefe said.

Fire investigators have been on the scene since the first hour of the blaze, but have not been able to enter the structure yet, O'Keefe said. For now, they are examining the 911 calls that came in for any additional information.

Calls began coming in to the fire department just before 1 a.m. Saturday.

"We had multiple calls for about 15 minutes," O'Keefe said. "Everyone downtown as they saw it began calling 911."

The first firefighters to arrive attempted to make initial entry to the building but were pulled out when portions on the Walnut Street side of the building began to collapse, O'Keefe said.

The three-alarm fire had the support of fire departments in West Des Moines, Clive and Urbandale, as well as local and county law enforcement, the state patrol, and Polk County Emergency Management.

A total of 18 trucks were on scene, 11 of them pumping 1,500 gallons of water a minute for close to five hours, O'Keefe said. Around 80 personnel--engineers, staff, maintenance and medics--responded before 2 a.m.

It was the largest Des Moines fire since April 2003, O'Keefe said, when a fire leveled the $20 million Waterstreet Brownstones and Vine Street Lofts Project, a five-story apartment building and two four-story condominium buildings south of Court Avenue between Southwest First and Southwest Second streets. They have since been rebuilt.

Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie was one of the onlookers watching crews still work on the Younkers building at about 8:30 a.m. Saturday.

"It's such a shame to lose a landmark of this city," Cownie said.

The redevelopment of the Younkers building was an important part of downtown revitalization, Cownie said.

"I'm hopeful (developers) will see this as a short-term bump," he said.

Officials from Alexander Co., the Madison, Wis., developers working on renovation of the Younkers building, said they have yet to assess all of the damage at the building in downtown Des Moines.

David Vos, development project manager for Alexander Co. said he found out about the former Younkers building blaze in downtown Des Moines at 6 a.m. today when company president Joe Alexander called him.

"We've had fires and floods in buildings, but nothing that complete destroys" a project, Vos said.

Construction crews were in the process of framing walls and putting up drywall in the building, Vos said.

Vos, Alexander and Jeremiah Leigh, construction project manager, were heading to Des Moines to assess the damage and meet with the firm's insurance company.

Vos said the future of the residential and retail project in the 108-year-old building, which was years in the making, is unclear. The building was renamed the Flagship Building because of copyright laws concerning the Younkers name.

The project's construction contractor, Hansen Company of Johnston, began work on building 28 one-bedroom and 92 two-bedroom apartments in the 280,000-square-foot building last September.

Original story:

The 115-year-old downtown Des Moines building that housed an iconic Younkers department store for decades caught fire early Saturday, and large portions of the structure collapsed.

It appeared that nobody was injured in a rare "three-alarm" fire in Des Moines, but the property damage was staggering.

Flames were pouring from the building's upper floors by a little after 1 a.m. "Within minutes of our arrival, we had structural failure internally," Des Moines Fire Department Brian O'Keefe said.

Some segments of the scaffolding at the building, and perhaps parts of the building, had collapsed by 2 a.m. Saturday, witnesses and a fire department official said.

"We have fire from the basement through the roof"

Ninety percent of the fire department's staff was downtown by 2:30, O'Keefe said.

As the flames began to diminish, firefighters concentrated on protecting adjacent properties. Two other buildings had at least some damage: the EMC Building and Hub Tower.

WITNESS ACCOUNTS: 'It just sounded like 100 car accidents happening at once'

O'Keefe said that an investigation would be needed to formally declare the building a total loss, although the severity of the blaze was apparent.

"It is too early to say, but we have fire from the basement through the roof," O'Keefe said. "We want the public to understand that this isn't going to be over anytime soon. Once we get the fire out we will still have to work hot spots."

At 6:30 a.m., Saturday, downtown Des Moines reeked of smoke and ashes had floated as far as two to three blocks from the fire. Fire trucks and other emergency vehicles filled the area.

The EMC Insurance building was cordoned inside a zone cordoned off by yellow police tape and traffic barricades. Some windows on the EMC building were broken and some of the building's exterior had been melted, fire officials said.

The blaze appeared to be under control, but fire crews were still pouring huge streams of water on the fire from all directions.

Traffic was closed in an area that extended north to Grand Avenue, south to Mulberry Street, west to Ninth Street, and east to Sixth Avenue. Grand is closed between Sixth and Ninth. Law enforcement officers were posted in their vehicles to prevent people from entering the area.

One question that will be asked over the weekend is whether any smoke damage occured to adjacent downtown businesses, including EMC Insurance, a major downtown employer, and whether downtown workers reporting to their jobs on Monday morning will be smelling smoke.

Neither the old Des Moines Register building and the Marriott Hotel to the north of the Younkers building appeared to have any structural damage.

Skywalks in the area also are closed. O'Keefe said property owners and building managers should seek assistance at Seventh and Locust streets. Sixth and Seventh are primary routes for Des Moines Area Transit Authority buses.

Rare three-alarm fire called about 1 a.m.

O'Keefe said the first call on the fire was a 12:52 a.m. Arriving firefighters found the upper two floors engulfed. Knowing the height of the building, that it was under construction, and that it had no sprinkler system, firefighters called a second alarm, and as soon as the incident commander arrived he called a third alarm -- a rare occurrence in Des Moines, O'Keefe said.

Des Moines firefighters responded with six ladder trucks, six pumper trucks, and three medic squads. West Des Moines brought a ladder truck, Clive brought a pumper truck. Suburban crews were staffing positions and relieving Des Moines fire crews.

The EMC Building, directly to the south of the Younkers building, was not on fire, but there were broken windows and a melting of the exterior, O'Keefe said.

O'Keefe said that at the Younkers building, floors six, seven and eight had collapsed.

Do they know what caused the fire?

No.

"Since the initial response, they did attempt to make entry, the first crew did and they returned -- dense smoke and heat. As they were looking into the floors, every floor they were checking had heavy smoke and fire damage. They could hear internal collapses occurring. So the command pulled those people out and gave an evacuation signal."

At about 4:30 a.m., O'Keefe said that over 60 firefighters were still on the scene, including firefighters and equipment from Des Moines, West Des Moines and Clive. In addition, there were Des Moines police, Polk County sheriff's deputies, and Iowa State Patrol troopers.

Also on the scene was the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, and Polk County Emergency Management, and utility companies.

History: A downtown landmark since 1899

The Younkers building has stood at 713 Walnut St. for more than 100 years.

It was renowned for its elegant Tea Room, which featured oak tables and chintz draperies when it opened in 1913. The Tea Room hosted a who's who of Des Moines inside an anchor of a vibrant downtown shopping scene.

PHOTOS: Downtown Younkers through the years

Another milestone for the building: In 1939, a modernization program included installation of the first "electric stairs," or escalators, in Iowa. Thousands turned out to try the new invention.

But the Younkers store, the Tea Room and downtown retail suffered a gradual decline over the past quarter century or more as malls lured shoppers to the suburbs.

Renovation began in September

The building closed in August 2005 and sat vacant until The Alexander Co. of Madison, Wis., began a renovation last September, including a new name: the Flagship Building.

The building housed 230,000 square feet of space. The company planned to convert it into 120 apartments reserved for lower-income tenants along with two floors of retail space. The Tea Room was to be reopened as well.

The Flagship Building was intended to be the anchor for a revitalization of Walnut Street into a thriving retail and entertainment district. Planners envisioned a streetscape with limited landscaping but plenty of space for sitting, eating and shopping amid vibrant restaurants and storefronts.

A renovated Younkers building was viewed as a critical piece to achieving that vision, City Manager Rick Clark has said.

The building was in the news in January when a former contractor involved in the renovation filed a complaint alleging asbestos was improperly handled at the site.

Return for more updates from this developing story.