CHICAGO -- Emergency crews responded to a massive fire at a landmark church on Chicago's South Side Friday afternoon.

Fire Chief Dennis Gault said there are no reports of injuries, but five ambulances were on standby. He said the roof collapsed and the fire department was in a defensive mode as they fought the blaze.

The Pilgrim Baptist Church was built between 1890 and 1891. Architects Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler designed the famous structure, which was originally a synagogue.

The church is a museum for musicians, Jewish historians, artists and architects. All of them make regular visits to the church, which was designated a Chicago landmark in 1981.

The Chicago Department of Planning and Development Landmarks Division said the church and its music director in the 1930s -- Thomas Dorsey -- were instrumental in the development of gospel music.

Tourists from all over the world come to see the church. When the building was constructed, it housed the KAM Synagogue, the oldest synagogue in Chicago. Gospel legend Mahalia Jackson was among the many who sang in Pilgrim's halls.

The art housed inside the church was one-of-a-kind. The church was the home of the mural of William A. Scott, one of the first black students of the Art Institute of Chicago. A large stained-glass window designed by Louis Millet has been in the church since it was built as a synagogue.