ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — The roof of Augustana College's PepsiCo Recreation Center caught fire just before 3 p.m. Saturday. Crews had to block 30th Street in Rock Island along the campus to put the fire out.
The PepsiCo Center is closed for the time being as the cause is being investigated. News 8 crews on the scene saw ladder trucks from the Rock Island Fire Department spraying down melted solar panels on the roof.
Officials said no one was hurt in the fire and the building sustained no interior damages. College Officials also said that only football and international students are on campus currently.
"We do a lot of emergency preparedness and drills," said Augustana College Public Relations Specialist, Nicole Lauer. "There was a drill, I believe in April that we held for the whole campus. So we take a lot of measures throughout the year to be prepared for when a situation does arise."
In 2021, the solar panels attached to Westerlin Residence Hall at Augustana caught fire.