Firefighters extinguished a blaze Thursday morning at a strip club in downtown St. John's.

Crews used aerial ladders to pump foam into the Cotton Club on George Street, where there are  mostly nightclubs, bars and restaurants.  

Foam that had been pumped into the Cotton Club to fight a fire leaks out of the building Thursday morning.
(CBC)

The fire caused considerable damage to the 145-year-old building, a stone structure that generations ago was a church and school. It was renovated as a nightclub more than 25 years ago.

The St. John's fire department responded to a call at 5:48 a.m.

By 7:30 a.m., the fire was under control, although smoke continued to seep from the roof.

Firefighters said no one was in the building at the time of the blaze.

Supt. Doug Noseworthy said the building's attic suffered the most, and that the fire may have started in that area.

"The entire ceiling has been burnt out. All the insulation is gone off the ceiling ... and there's a lot of smoke damage inside the building," Noseworthy said.

Owner Jody Temple said the business carried insurance, but for now about 30 employees are out of work.

"It's a sad day for us," said Temple, who has been involved with the business for about a decade.

"It's a business that we built up to where it is right now, and it's a hard phone call to get in the morning and realize that it's gone."

The fire department is not speculating on how the fire may have started.

Police are investigating.