Syracuse, NY - The Syracuse Fire Dept. was called out on Wednesday, August 29th to the 700 block of North Salina Street for a reported structure fire on the back side of the building. Upon arrival, crews found fire on the 'Delta' side of the four brick row buildings located on the west side of the block.

Search operations were completed with no persons found. Crews were quickly pushed back by fire and defensive operations were put into place. Fire spread through the walls and crawl spaces between the buildings, causing the fire to consume four buildings on the block.

Command requested more units to the scene, as well as the utilities companies and Red Cross. Master streams and hand lines were utilized to keep the fire at bay, with multiple ladder trucks on scene to assist. During the exterior operations there was a collapse on the 'Delta' side of a large chunk of two buildings.

Crews worked long into the next morning before the call was completed and units returned to service. During the investigation it was found that the fire was caused by a cigarette butt discarded onto a pile of dry cardboard behind one of the buildings.