SAN ANTONIO – A two-alarm fire destroyed a discount store just north of downtown early Friday morning, according to the San Antonio Fire Department.
The fire was called in around 12:45 a.m. at a Dollar Tree store in the 2000 block of North Main Avenue, not far from San Antonio College.
Firefighters said when they arrived, they found heavy flames showing from the roof of the building. They said they believe the fire had been burning for some time before anyone finally noticed.
Fire officials said the roof started to collapse, so they had to fight the fire from the outside. The building was so large they had a tough time accessing some areas that were still burning hours later.
The SAFD said eventually they brought in a city crew with heavy equipment to open up some of the walls. The whole front of the building collapsed, however, so the city crew then began the demolition, authorities said.
Firefighters said they had to call in CPS Energy because there was a gas line inside that was preventing them from tearing down the back section of the building. The cause of the fire is not currently known.
Officials say North Main Avenue is currently shut down between Ashby and Dewey until further notice, because of all the equipment in the area and the debris that has fallen in the middle of the street.
The San Antonio Fire Department, the San Antonio Police Department and EMS all responded to the call.
The store was closed at the time, so there were no reported injuries.