Firefighters battle massive fire at commercial building in Van Nuys

More than 100 firefighters were battling a massive fire burning at a commercial building in Van Nuys. 

The fire erupted at around 9:30 p.m. at the single-story building located int he 6400 block of Van Nuys Boulevard, according to Los Angeles Fire Department. 

Though crews began attempts to extinguish the 30-foot flames in an offensive mode, the intensity forced them to fall back into defensive mode for some time. 

The fire was declared a Great Alarm fire at around 10 p.m., LAFD said. 

It took just under 2 hours and 40 minutes for crews to extinguish the flames at the businesses, all of which operated as facilities for the storage and sale of textiles, which firefighters say heavily fueled the fire. 

A church, which operated at the rear of the building, was also destroyed in the fire, LAFD said. 

At least three of the commercial units were believed to be occupied, according to LAFD's Nicolas Prange.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. 

With SkyCal overhead, massive billowing plumes of black smoke could be seen above the large flames with multiple LAFD ladder units attempted to douse the flames from above.