Apartment Building Fire in Madison, Wis.

About 50 firefighters battled a blaze at an apartment building in downtown Madison, Wisconsin Thursday.

The fire at the Capitol Hill Apartments still burned more than five hours after it began at 5 a.m. Plumes of black smoke and flames could be seen from a distance.

Fire Capt. Brad Olson says firefighters were called out of the building 9 a.m. to take a defensive approach to fighting the fire, which burned in the attic of the three-story building. Fire department spokeswoman Lori Wirth says the roof is “virtually gone and the ceiling is waterlogged and sagging.”

Wirth says the fire is out on the bottom floor of the building which houses the Underground Kitchen restaurant. Wirth tells the State Journal about 30 to 35 apartment residents have been displaced by the fire.