photo by: Nick Gerik

Story updated at 7:07 p.m. Monday:

A fire caused “pretty extensive” damage to a downtown Lawrence business Monday morning, the property’s owner said.

Dalton Paley, owner of the property at 809 Massachusetts St. that is home to Blade and Timber, told the Journal-World Monday evening that he still didn’t have too many answers after a fire damaged much of the building.

Heavy smoke poured from the building for roughly two hours from the time the fire was reported around 8:30 a.m. Monday. The 800 block of Massachusetts Street was shut down for several hours as firefighters worked at the scene.

No one was injured during the course of the fire, which was under control as of 10:40 a.m., city spokesman Porter Arneill told the Journal-World at the scene.

Police and city crews blocked off the entire 800 block of Massachusetts Street, and part of the intersection of Eighth and Massachusetts streets was blocked for a time by fire hoses. Part of the road had begun to reopen as of 1 p.m.

When crews arrived at the scene Monday morning, smoke was seen escaping through the roof of the building, and the downstairs windows were obscured by a dark haze. Emergency crews were seen breaking open the door of the business around 8:50 a.m., and shortly after 9 a.m., firefighters began breaking open upper-story windows of the building and climbing in through a ladder. Firefighters also broke open doors to adjacent buildings.

video by: Nick Gerik

Blade and Timber is an ax-throwing business that opened last year in Lawrence. The business also has two locations in Kansas City.

Paley told the Journal-World at the scene that no one was in the Blade and Timber shop Monday morning, except for some plumbers who discovered the fire and tried to put it out. He said the space above the ax-throwing business is currently vacant, as is the space atop neighboring restaurant Zen Zero to the south. The adjacent building to the north that formerly housed The Buckle clothing store is also empty.

Arneill said it didn’t appear that the fire had spread to nearby buildings. There was a great deal of smoke in the area, however. Crews were working with saws in the interior of the building and breaking out more upper-story windows as necessary as they investigated the fire.

video by: Nick Gerik

Zen Zero owner Subarna Bhattachan told the Journal-World Monday evening that he wasn’t sure how long the restaurant would be closed. He said their insurance adjuster is coming tomorrow, and he hopes to have a better idea of the smoke damage then. He said he extends his deepest sympathies to the restaurant’s neighbors at Blade and Timber. Bhattachan said he appreciates the community’s support.

“We’re trying our best to open as soon as possible, but these things take time,” Bhattachan said.

Paley said firefighters told him they had identified the fire quickly after it started, so that was very fortunate. He said he went in the building with crews for about five minutes Monday afternoon, and it’s difficult to tell just how extensive the damage is because everything is off — no power, no gas, no water.

Paley said the crews had isolated the fire to the area of the first floor’s ceiling and the floor of the second floor. He said the basement seemed OK, but he didn’t get to see much in his brief walkthrough.

video by: Nick Gerik

As of roughly 6:30 p.m. Monday, Paley said he still did not know the cause of the fire.

“It’s disconcerting for us, but we’re just rolling with the punches at this point,” Paley said. “… At this point, we just don’t know a ton.”

photo by: Mackenzie Clark

He said he felt bad for the other businesses affected by the fire, and he hoped to have more answers soon.

Paley said the Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical first responders investigating the fire have been “rockstars about the whole thing.”

“We’re really happy thus far, all things considered,” he said.

Arneill could not immediately be reached for further information Monday evening.

photo by: Mackenzie Clark

photo by: Nick Gerik

photo by: Nick Gerik

photo by: Nick Gerik

photo by: Nick Gerik

photo by: Nick Gerik

photo by: Mackenzie Clark