LINCOLN - Fire broke out at Lincoln College's historic University Hall building Sunday afternoon, burning rooms on the first two floors of the four-story building. No one was hurt, and school officials said they believe the building remains structurally sound.

Lincoln fire inspectors are investigating, but haven't yet established the cause of the fire or its point of origin.

As many as 30 firefighters from Lincoln City, rural Lincoln and Atlanta converged at the scene, putting out the blaze that began at about 5:45 p.m.

"It was fortunate that firefighters responded so quickly, because that's an old building and it would have gone up quick, otherwise," said College Provost Tom Zurkammer,

According to Zurkammer, who arrived late at the scene, the fire damaged the west corner of the building, burning an office and a sitting room adjacent to two washrooms.

"The building is salvageable," said Zurkammer, "They did a great job tearing out the siding and the drywall to keep the fire from spreading to the upper floors."

According to college President John Hutchinson, the building holds a radio station, classrooms and administration offices, including his own.

"What I saw was charred wood, a lot of smoke damage, possible water damage below, carpets burned out," said Hutchinson.

"It's going to take a while to get the place cleaned up, and then some renovation will have to happen."

University Hall is one of two original campus buildings. The college's ground breaking took place on Abraham Lincoln's birthday in 1865, though the President was unable to attend.

"The story goes that he promised to visit the college in April of that year," said Zurkammer, "but, well, we know how that went."

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The fire comes less than two years after the school's maintenance complex burned to the ground over fall break.

The school's other original structure, named simply the Administration Building, burned down in January, 1969. That was replaced by the Johnston Fine Arts Center, and the administration offices were moved to the University Hall, site of Sunday's fire.

Administration offices, however, were not damaged this time by fire.