ST. LOUIS — Fire crews worked to contain a four-alarm warehouse fire Saturday morning.
Eighty-five firefighters were called to the scene of the five-story building that partially collapsed. The building was vacant at the time of the fire.
"This is one of those where we surround the structure, and basically, I don't want to say surround and drown, but that's essentially what it is," said Garon Mosby, a St. Louis Fire Department captain. "Large amounts of water from the exterior —not committing resources inside."
The fire started before 6 a.m. at First and O'Fallon streets in downtown St. Louis. Mosby said it's unclear what started it.
"It was just a tremendous amount of fire— I'll say for 6 o'clock in the morning for the fire to be that far ahead of us —so that we can't go in. So, that's concerning, but nothing on the cause right now," he said.
The fire was burning in the building that took up one city block. Ameren Missouri shut off power for businesses nearby while crews battled the flames for hours.
Mosby said the fire didn't cause structural damage to surrounding buildings.
This is a developing story. Additional details will be added.