A part of Fayette County's

history went up in smoke early Thursday morning as a fire destroyed the

building that houses the Fayette Daily News in Fayetteville.

No one was injured in the blaze,

according to Sgt. Bill Rieck of the Fayetteville Fire Department. Three

nearby homes were evacuated for safety precautions, but firefighters were

able to contain the fire to the newspaper building,

The fire did set off a small

explosion of a LP gas tank that powered a forklift that was used at the

building, Rieck said.

"There was an explosion

from that tank," Rieck said.

Fire investigators have not

been able to determine yet what caused the blaze at the paper's Church

Street location. An explosion

The fire was reported at approximately

5:38 a.m. by someone at Carolyn Ford, which is adjacent to the Daily News

building, Rieck said. Five fire engines responded to the blaze, including

some from the Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency Services.

The first fire crew on the

scene noted a heavy fire load, Rieck said, adding that the building was

unoccupied at the time of the blaze.

Firefighters entered the building

to battle the blaze but had to withdraw due to dangerous conditions and

intense heat, Rieck said. Fayetteville's tower truck sprayed water on

the roof of the building from its high vantage point to help contain the

flames, he added.

"Our crews did an excellent

job of protecting the surrounding structures," Rieck said.

A small portion of Ga. Highway

85 near the newspaper's office was shut down briefly so firefighters could

connect to a water supply on the western side of the road, Rieck said.

He called that maneuver standard procedure in an effort to get more water

to the scene.

"We just had to reach

out a little bit to provide that water," Rieck added.

Fire investigators are working

to determine the cause of the blaze, but there were no indications of

the possible cause by press time Thursday afternoon.

Rieck said a newspaper official

wanted the department to tell the media the company plans to continue

publishing.

Bound volumes of the newspaper

for the past 50 years are available at the Fayette County Probate Court

for those interested in looking for a particular issue of the paper. The

probate court office is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The court keeps the back issues

because the Fayette Daily News is the county's legal organ in which legal

notices are published.

Charles Tillman, who operates

the paper's press, said he left the building Wednesday night at 11 p.m.

after the paper's Thursday edition was printed. He said great caution

is taken to make sure all the electricity is shut off to the paper's press

unit before the building closes at night.

Tillman was disappointed about

the fire because "we were just starting to get things done,"

he said.

"Everybody was just starting

to get happy again," Tillman said.

No other representatives of

the newspaper could be contacted by press time to determine the paper's

upcoming publishing schedule.