“(The cause) is electrically related,” Lincoln Fire Chief Jim Davis said Monday. “We don’t know if it was the air conditioner or the (electrical) box where it was plugged into.”

A woman walking her dog is credited for discovering the blaze and Lincoln resident Jim Sparrow – who lives near the college and frequently walks through its 47-acre campus – called 911 on his cell phone after she alerted him of the blaze.

Because of the quick discovery, Lincoln firefighters extinguished the fire before it spread too far from its origin – a small waiting room adjacent to a women’s restroom on the southwest corner of the building.

The fire resulted in a gaping hole in the floor of an office directly above the waiting room and smoke damage was prevalent throughout the building.

But college officials said today the offices of President John Hutchinson, Vice President for College Relations Allen Pickering and Vice President for Academic Affairs Tom Zurkammer did not sustain much damage.

“At the current time, I know they have relocated to the dorm behind student services, Heritage South,” said LC spokeswoman Jean Ann Miller.

She said the administrators plan to return to University Hall by the end of the month, but first want other electrical sources in the building to be inspected.

Hutchinson’s office, located about 50 feet from the fire’s origin, had relatively minor smoke damage considering its close proximity to the fire because someone opened up his office window shortly after the blaze was discovered, she said.

Both other offices will need extensive cleaning because “the smell is too much at this point,” she said.

The basement sustained extensive water damage, including items Pickering was storing, she said.

However, equipment in the basement used to broadcast the college’s radio station, WLYX 88.9 FM, was spared, she said.

Ameren CILCO workers restored power to University Hall Monday, but “they wanted the college electrician, who is Jeff Curry, from Curry Electric, to go through and check everything,” she said. “And that is what he is doing at this time.”

Miller also said the college’s insurance company had claims officers at the site today.

“We’re trying to get back to business as usual,” Miller said. “The maintenance department over there – they’re all gems.

“They can work through just about any condition.”

Many of the maintenance workers arrived at the campus shortly after the fire was reported because many of them heard it being dispatched on police scanners, she said.

“So they came and tried to help where they could,” she said.

The ground for University Hall, which appears on the National Register of Historic Places, was broken on Lincoln’s last living birthday, Feb. 12, 1865, Lincoln College associate professor Ron Keller said Sunday.

Keller, who also is the curator of the college’s museum, said the cornerstone was laid in September 1865 and construction was completed a year later.

“Lincoln College became the first school of any type to be named for President Abraham Lincoln in his lifetime,” accord to “History of Logan County,” published in 1982 by the Logan County Heritage Foundation.

Sunday’s fire marked the second time in less than two years firefighters had to battle a fire on the college campus. A fire leveled three maintenance buildings and caused more than $600,000 damage on Oct. 10, 2004, which also was a Sunday.

Fire also ravaged the college’s original administrative building in January 1969.