A Fulton apartment building – one of the earliest built in the city – is a total loss after fire broke out in the building Sunday morning.

Firefighters from nine departments battled the blaze at 201 11th Ave., one block from the Mississippi River, throughout the day in wind chills as low as 14 degrees below zero.

The fire was called in shortly before 7:30 a.m., Fulton Fire Chief Eric Burden said, adding that all occupants were out of the building when firefighters arrived. No residents or firefighters were injured in the fire.

The Illinois State Fire Marshal’s Office was on scene Sunday to determine the cause of the fire, Burden said. An excavator was at the scene Sunday afternoon pulling the building apart to extinguish hot spots, Burden said.

Burden said freezing temperatures can create difficulties when firefighters are battling a blaze.

“It definitely affects when things start freezing,” he said.

He said that because fire hydrants in the area all run off the same water line, tankers were brought to the scene to haul in water, if needed.

The building’s residents were welcomed into the AmercInn in Fulton, where they would be staying Sunday night. Burden said the American Red Cross also was called in to assist the families, and community members were coordinating the effort to collect clothes and items for the families.

Burden was grateful for the community efforts to support firefighters at the scene and said the Sparkettes, a group of firefighters’ wives, fed the firefighters.

Fulton Fire and EMS were assisted at the scene by firefighters from Thomson, Albany, Erie, Prophetstown, Cordova and Camanche, Iowa; firefighters and EMS from Morrison and Clinton, Iowa; and Fulton and Morrison police.

Commonly known as the Martin Hotel, the building was constructed in 1854 by Bradstreet Robinson, according to Fulton historian Barbara Mask. It was known as the Robinson House until 1885, then the Holleran House until 1893, the Hotel Noble in 1901, and most widely known as the Hotel Martin.

Major changes occurred in 1910 to meet the growing demands of the economic boom in Fulton. Henry H. Martin, proprietor of the popular hotel, changed the name from Hotel Noble to Hotel Martin on Aug. 30, 1910.

The structure was rebuilt at that time and refitted with 23 rooms.

“Fulton will have a first-class hotel,” the Fulton Journal wrote at the time. “There will be no cause on that score for a removal of the head office of the Mystic Workers from this city.”

According a historical article written by Mask, The Mystic Workers, later named the Fidelity Life Association, voted to keep their home office in Fulton in 1901, but years of delay by other communities who wanted the office located in their cities was a constant concern in Fulton. The home office building was eventually built in 1913 at 100 10th Ave., across the street from the Hotel Martin. Monthly board meetings brought in a large delegation of visitors.

Mask wrote that other frequent guests were railroad passengers who were boarding steamboats from Fulton, with their destinations to visit St. Paul to the north and St. Louis to the south. Many railroad executives provided a steady customer base, too.

The structure was among among the oldest in the city. Mask said the others are the Luker Building, built in 1856, and the Martin House, built in 1855.