page_title: Madison, Indiana
section_title: Jefferson County Courthouse fire
hierarchical_section_title: Madison, Indiana / History / Jefferson County Courthouse fire
caption_attribution_description: English: Madison Courthouse On fire
context_page_description: Madison is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Indiana, United States, along the Ohio River. As of the 2010 United States Census its population was 11,967. Over 55,000 people live within 15 miles of downtown Madison. Madison is the largest city along the Ohio River between Louisville and Cincinnati. Madison is one of the core cities of the Louisville-Elizabethtown-Madison metroplex, an area with a population of approximately 1.5 million. In 2006, the majority of Madison's downtown area was designated the largest contiguous National Historic Landmark in the United States—133 blocks of the downtown area is known as the Madison Historic Landmark District.
context_section_description: On May 20, 2009, the newly painted dome of the Jefferson County Courthouse caught fire. The blaze started around 6:15 pm. Smoke billowed hundreds of feet into the air and flames rose out of the clock tower. The fire continued to burn for hours. Fire officials reported that the fire was tentatively under control just before 9:45 pm. No major injuries were reported. The dome of the courthouse was being painted in celebration of Madison's bicentennial. On May 28, 2009, the ruined dome was removed from the top of the courthouse in two pieces. Authorities stated that the cause of the fire was a contractor using an open-flame propane torch to solder two pieces of copper together in one of the built-in gutters on the north side of the roof.
caption: The Jefferson County Courthouse dome engulfed in flames
exif: {}