The Associated Press

AP Photo/Val Horvath, The Times Firefighters battle the blaze at Shreveport Little Theatre in La., on Tuesday. Photo Norm Doc Zaffater/Signal 51 Group Engine 7 and truck 8 attack the blaze, with truck 1's ladder pipe visible through the smoke.

SHREVEPORT, La. — A fire has heavily damaged the Shreveport Little Theater, a landmark community theater for more than 80 years.

The theater, located south of downtown Shreveport, has been undergoing renovations for the last several months.

No one was injured.

The blaze started in an area at the back of the building where an addition to the theater was being built, according to firefighters. The fire spread to the original theater building, although firefighters were able to save one wing of the Tudor-style building, fire Chief Brian Crawford said.

The fire started about 9:30 a.m. as a construction worker was doing welding work on the addition, Crawford said. The worker tried to put the fire out with a water hose and a fire extinguisher but it spread quickly, the chief said.

The back of the theater was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived. Smoke from the fire could be seen for miles.

Shreveport Little Theatre is in its 87th season and the theater opened its present location in 1927. The theater was damaged by another fire in the mid-1980s. The expansion work would have doubled the size of the theater.