A fire broke out in the building Thursday night.

BANGOR (AP) – The historic Masonic Hall Building crumbled under the swing of a wrecking ball early Saturday after fire and the weight of a 10-inch thick layer of ice forced its demise.

Fire broke out at the 116 Main St. building around 8:30 p.m. Thursday. For more than 16 hours firefighters from several towns sprayed around 6,000 gallons of water a minute on the five-story brick building in the minus 14 degree temperature.

The water from the spray stuck instant ice on the building, and the mist from the stream formed snow, surrounding the hall with 3-foot high snowbanks.

By Friday, nearly 5 million gallons of water encased the structure, and the roadway, traffic lights and street lights around it were covered in thick layers of ice and snow, transforming downtown Bangor into a scene reminiscent of a snowbound gingerbread village.

By nightfall Friday the building was buckling under the weight of the ice and officials brought in the wrecking ball to avoid an uncontrolled collapse and to reach the fires that still burned inside the building.

Main Street and Water Street were coated in several solid inches of ice. Main Street and its businesses were closed between Union and Hammond Streets Friday and Saturday until public works crews swooped in with graders and front-end loaders.

Dozens of onlookers trained cameras and video recorders on the site from a safe distance, attempting to capture a piece of history.

One firefighter received a minor injury, a black eye as he tried to catch another firefighter who was slipping off the top of a ladder truck.

The 136-year-old building was owned by the Masonic Temple Association and housed the Masonic Lodge, the Masonic Learning Center, the Yankee Shoe Repair and the Riverside Art Gallery. The building was assessed at $800,000.

Officials have not determined the cause of the fire. Firefighters noted a large amount of fire in the boiler room in the basement.

The state Fire Marshal’s office is investigating.

AP-ES-01-17-04 1335EST