UPDATE
STUTTGART — An overnight fire has destroyed a courthouse annex building in Arkansas County that housed the sheriff's office, the 911 call center, the county judge's office and more.
The cause of the fire, which was reported about 3:15 a.m. at the structure on South College Street, isn't yet known, but County Judge Sonny Cox said there was nothing preliminarily to suggest it was suspicious.
"Nothing that we're aware of right now," he said by phone from the destroyed building, where he said firefighters were still working to extinguish smoldering shingles.
"It's going to be a challenging time," Cox said. "There's no doubt about that."
No injuries were reported.
Cox said the fire started in the back of the building near some air conditioning and heating units and spread, ultimately collapsing the second floor onto the first. He said it looked to be started by an electric issue, though the fire marshal had not yet officially determined a cause.
County 911 calls were being forwarded to the Stuttgart Police Department for the timebeing, Cox said.
The building also housed an Arkansas State Police office, the assessor's office and the county Office of Emergency Management. The nearby county courthouse was not damaged, though Cox said its power and gas were off Tuesday because of the blaze.
He said officials will move the displaced offices into the lower level of the main courthouse, which sits just down the block, and hope to have everything operational by Friday.
Firefighters continued in the early afternoon to put out hot spots in the building, which was built in 1918 and has housed the annex since 1992.
Cox said officials were able to salvage a number of records from inside, adding that while some were damaged by smoke or water, all should be backed up on a computer.
"I think we're in pretty good shape," he said. "We won't know till we try to find something and can't find it ... but I think we're in good shape."
EARLIER
An overnight fire has caused extensive damage at the Arkansas County sheriff's office in Stuttgart, authorities said.
Calls to the sheriff's office were answered by the Stuttgart Police Department. An official there said the fire started about 3:15 a.m. and is believed to have destroyed the sheriff's office headquarters on South College Street, which also housed other officials including the county judge's office.
The official, who declined to give her name, said firefighters were still on the scene and no cause was known.
There were no preliminary reports of injuries.
