Fire at historic Rockefeller Building

A fire at the Rockefeller Building on Friday was caused by a team doing interior demolition work, according to the property owner.

Smoke poured out of the building as Cleveland fire crews fought to limit the damage.

Doug Price, the CEO of the K&D Group, which bought the historic Rockefeller Building earlier this year, confirmed that a crew is in the vacant building performing clean-out and asbestos abatement. They were using a torch, he said, and it sparked a fire.

Price said the fire impacted three levels of the building, but he doesn't believe there's any structural damage. At this point, he thinks it was just debris that burned, he told News 5 during a phone interview Friday afternoon. He doesn't think the fire will delay K&D's plans to renovate the building as apartments.

News 5 got an inside look at the vacant building in April:

Price said no one was injured.

The Downtown landmark has faced its share of setbacks.

Cleveland police responded to a break-in there in 2025:

Before K&D purchased and secured the property in April, the building was a magnet for vandals, squatters and urban explorers.