Springfield- Operations at Springfield City Hall should be returning to normal Monday following last Wednesday's electircal fire. The damage forced officials to shut the building down for five days.

"That's not good for the public and we understand that, and its an inconvience to everybody," said Springfield City Mayor Robert Walker.

Walker said he was one of the first people who noticed something was wrong.

"The place was smokey. We couldn't see nothing, nothing but a flame in the corner here by the panel," said Walker.

Firefighters were quick to get to the scene pinpointing the source of the fire to the city hall's electrical room.

"There was a flame built up again, so they were fortunate enough to have their gear on so they could breathe up here in the smoke and all," said Walker.

Crews managed to extinguish the fire shortly after it started but not before it did considerable damage to wiring and other electrical equipment, and officials said because of the building's insulation it hasn't been an easy fix.

"These walls are about 12, 14, 16 inches thick in some places, so getting the cables back in here was a job," said Walker.

In the end depsite repair estimates upwards of $30 thousand, Mayor Walker was looking at the silver lining.

"If it had been on a weekend or night we would not have had a city hall," said Walker.

Springfield residents haven't been able to drop off their utility payments since the building has been closed, but that changes with tomorrow's anticipated reopening. The city said it will wave any late fees occuring last week through this week.