• The fire at the construction site of Marquette's new Law School building, Eckstein Hall, apparently left the site with minimal damage.
• There appears to be surface damage to a concrete retaining wall.
• The incident will not delay construction or the building's projected opening in fall 2010.
• It is too early too estimate damage costs, but the fire is not expected to required additional funding for the project.

The morning after a propane fire on the site of Marquette's new Law School building, university officials and project workers assessed the fire's impact and planned for the next steps in construction.

It appears there was minimal lasting damage from the fire that broke out late Tuesday afternoon.

Damages have been estimated at $2,000 said Tiffany Wynn, spokesperson for the Milwaukee Fire Department.

The blaze started at a break in a line from one of the three interconnected 1,000-gallon propane tanks on site. Six workers were on site when the fire broke out before 4 p.m. Three workers inside a trailer heard a hissing noise and went outside to see flames coming from the propane tank and its tubing, MFD Batallion Chief Michael Labinski said Tuesday.

It took firefighters about two and a half hours to contain the fire. Firefighters were waiting for the gas to burn itself out, Labinski said.

The propane tanks provided fuel for heat used to control the temperature of poured concrete, according to Tom Ganey, university architect.

No injuries as a result of the fire were reported, said Brigid O'Brien Miller, director of university communication, on Tuesday.

According to Wynn, the cause of the fire is being investigated by the Milwaukee Police Department.

Calls seeking comment from Opus North Corporation, the building contractors, were not returned as of press time.

The fire will not delay construction or the planned opening of the $85 million Eckstein Hall in fall 2010, Ganey said. Construction should be back to normal by the end of the week.

It is too early to estimate damage costs, but the incident should not require additional funding for the project, Ganey said.

"The fire won't hold us back," he said.

Although the impact of the fire is still being assessed, structural engineers have found no damage to the structure of the building at this point, Ganey said. The fire afflicted the concrete retaining wall, but that is currently believed to be only surface damage.

The next step in construction is to continue pouring concrete on the main floor of the building, Ganey said. Construction of the structural steel will begin early next month.

Damage to construction equipment is also still being investigated, Ganey said. The propane tank at the heart of the fire has been removed from the site, and the crane damaged by the flames will be taken away this week.

The water from battling the fire has been drained from the lowest level of the structure, Ganey said. Water-damaged tools are being sorted and cleaned.

On Tuesday, the Haggerty Museum of Art was fully evacuated, and Straz Hall, O'Hara Hall and the Gesu Parish Center were partially evacuated, Miller said.