KENOSHA - Firefighters spent nearly 12 hours Thursday extinguishing the blaze that gutted Victoria's Nautical Inn, 6209 22nd Ave.

The fire was called in as working structure fire at 2:29 a.m. Thursday, said Kenosha Fire Department Battalion Chief Matthew Haerter.

"Our initial companies were coming from Engine Three's quarters, less than a block away," Haerter said. "They noted heavy smoke as they were getting dressed to go on the call. The entire area was smoky to the extent that they had difficulty determining which building was on fire."

He said they entered through the front and rear of the building, trying to figure out exactly where the fire was located.

"Within five minutes they were pushed back outside due to heavy smoke and heat conditions within," he said.

Firefighters then opened exterior doors so they could put water on the fire from the outside.

"The call was upgraded to a second alarm almost immediately," Haerter said, "and then also went an additional level once the available resources were extended within the city of Kenosha."

They evacuated 26 people who lived close to the area of the fire; 18 of them received aid from the American Red Cross.

Complicating the firefighting response was the infrastructure in that part of the city.

"That are of our city is plagued with very small water mains," Haerter said. "Because of the amount of water we were flowing we had to use a significant amount of apparatus and hose to get water from other parts of the water supply grid."

Departments from Kenosha and Racine counties, as well as Lake County, Ill., were called to help, staffing fire stations left empty by the incident and assisting at the scene. In all, 50 firefighters were on scene, Haerter said.

Several firefighters were injured, Haerter said, after they fell on the ice that formed at the scene. He said there were sprained knees, sprained backs and bumps and bruises.

Haerter said the fire was no longer in danger of spreading within an hour of personnel's arrival at the scene. They maintained an aggressive response until 7 a.m., and firefighters were on scene until about 1:30 p.m.

Haerter said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

"Because of the significant amount of collapse and fire and water that was flowed, investigators are just starting to analyze the fire itself," he said. "It's literally just at the infant stages."

Haerter said the adjacent parts of the larger building that Victoria's was part of had a small amount of smoke damage. The restaurant was a total loss, he said, and damage is estimated at $1 million.