Oct. 20—A more than 100-year-old building that was once part of Kokomo's burgeoning glass manufacturing industry suffered heavy damage in a fire Thursday morning.

Around 3:40 a.m. Thursday, the Kokomo Fire Department responded to a report of a building on fire at the corner of East Vaile Avenue and South Ohio Street.

KFD Chief Chris Frazier said firefighters on the scene noticed a large fire in the building's attic. Initially, Frazier said, firefighters tried to put the fire out from the inside of the building, but structural fears caused firefighters to take a "defensive" position away from the building.

In total, five of the department's engines were called on scene. Firefighters spent several hours fighting the fire.

As of Thursday afternoon the fire had been put out, and no injuries were reported, Frazier said, though the department was still conducting a search at the time.

The cause of the fire is unknown, and an investigation is ongoing.

The building, located at 635 S. Ohio St., has been vacant for several years but was a commercial building in the recent past, including once housing an antique store.

It was once part of the city's thriving plate glass industry that took off after the Indiana Gas Boom of the late 19th century.

Built in 1920 during a company expansion by the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, the building housed company offices, according to Tribune and Howard County Historical Society archives.

At the time, PPG was the county's largest employer, owning dozens of acres of property on South Ohio and East Carter streets. The area at the time was known as the "Plate Glass District." PPG ceased its glassmaking operations in 1931.

PPG reacquired most of its old sites in 2010, when it enrolled the property in Indiana Department of Environmental Management's voluntary remediation program.

According to the county property records, the building, which has changed hands multiple times since 2005, is owned by Larry Carpenter and has more than $15,000 in unpaid back taxes and weed cleanup liens.

Tyler Juranovich can be reached at 765-454-8577, by email at tyler.juranovich@kokomotribune.com or on Twitter at @tylerjuranovich.