Even with 25 firefighters on the scene, there was no way to save the offices of the Kewanee Boiler Corp.

Capt. Jake Forney of the Kewanee Fire Department said Monday that the second floor of the ancient building was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived. It appeared that the ceiling had collapsed in some places.

A fire crew went into the building but couldn’t get up to the second floor, and went back outside. After that, there were no more efforts to enter the building, Forney said.

Off-duty personnel were called in, and eventually 13 Kewanee firefighters were at the scene.

Kewanee also called in assistance from the Geneseo Fire Department, the Annawan Fire Department and the Kewanee Community Fire Department. In all, 25 firefighters were involved, and Forney expressed his appreciation for the other departments’ help.

No firefighter was hurt, he said.

Forney said the Geneseo department sent its aerial ladder truck, which was needed because Kewanee’s ladder truck was disabled. He said three tires on that truck were destroyed when it was driven over debris on the site.

The fire department was dispatched to the site again Sunday after the fire rekindled. Smoke still rose from the ruins of the building on Monday.

The fire was so intense, and the office building was so close to the railroad tracks, that all Burlington Northern trains scheduled to run through Kewanee were halted. By early Sunday morning the fire had subsided enough that the rail traffic could be resumed.

Forney said the damage to the building was so complete that there may be no way to tell the exact cause of the fire.

Kewanee police over the weekend apprehended two teen-agers in connection with the fire. A 15-year-old was charged with criminal trespass to property and a16-year-old was charged with criminal damage to property by means of fire.