A fire destroyed a large building at the District Yacht Club site near Navy Yard in Southeast this morning.

Officials initially received several calls regarding the fire, including one from a Park Police officer who spotted it from across the river, according to Vito Maggiolo, a spokesman D.C. Fire and EMS. Once fire officials arrived to the isolated area around 3:13 a.m., the fire was heavily up in flames.

“Our challenge was to make sure it didn’t spread,” said Maggiolo. It took about an hour to contain the fire.

Maggiolo described the structure as a fairly large, one-story wooden building that included a kitchen, lounge, workshop, and cottage area.

The fire erupted 12 hours after club members held a children’s Christmas party, according The Washington Post. “We lost everything as far as the clubhouse is concerned,” Victor Fenwick, the commodore of the yacht club, told The Post.

Officials are still investigating the cause of the fire.

Filed Under: district yacht club, fire, yacht club,