AUBURN – The Village Inn Restaurant and Lounge on High Street, an Auburn landmark, was burning early this morning after smoke was seen rolling from the restaurant about 12:30 a.m.

There were no immediate reports of injuries in the fire.

Firefighters who arrived minutes after the first reports found the back of the building in flames.

Police blocked off a section of High Street around the burning building as a second alarm was sounded and more fire crews responded to the scene. By 1 a.m., a witness said the rear of the famed restaurant at 161 High St. was fully engulfed. Later, heavy smoke was being reported from the main section of the restaurant.

Officers blocked the road at Academy Street and at the intersection of Elm and High streets as firefighters battled the blaze. Traffic was being rerouted to avoid the area, and a train was being held up because of hoses laid down on the railroad tracks..

The restaurant had closed at 9 p.m. It was not immediately known if anyone was inside when the fire began.

The Village Inn, famed for its seafood, began as a pizza shop in 1963. Owned by the Vallee family, it later became a drive-in restaurant and was sold in 1974. In 1979, the family reopened the restaurant under its current name.

The cause of the fire was unknown. Auburn fire Lt. Gary Simard was being notified about the blaze and was expected to begin an investigation.