Firefighters subdue two-alarm fire at Cockeysville consignment shop Wednesday

BALTIMORE --  Firefighters in Baltimore County spent hours battling flames from a two-alarm fire that ripped through several businesses along York Road in Cockeysville on Wednesday.

Neighbors watched as firefighters battled the blaze.

"(I) started hearing the fire engines," Larry Butler of Cockeysville said. "Usually hear them come up the street or down the street, and they kept coming."

Baltimore County firefighters said the fire started around 3 p.m. 

When they got there, they saw heavy flames and tried to fight them from the inside at first, but part of the building collapsed, forcing them to attack it from the outside.

It took 100 firefighters total to do the job.

"They've got five tower trucks and three or four pumpers," Butler said. "It doesn't seem to be able to put it out."

Firefighters believe the flames started at a consignment shop along the strip and spread to several others including a rug store and a computer store.

Investigators said there were people inside some of the businesses at the time of the fire, but they were all able to get out and no one was hurt.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is underway.

"We don't know how the fire started," Baltimore County Fire Department Capt. Len Stewart said. "At this point in time, we have no speculation as to how the fire started."

Those who watched as firefighters put out the flames are concerned for the people who lost their businesses to the fire.

"I feel bad for the people who own the businesses and it's not just the one that burned; it's the adjacent," Butler said. "Between smoke damage and water damage, they're probably going to be ruined, too."

WJZ asked firefighters if it was difficult to battle flames because of the issues with air quality right now from the fires in Canada.

Firefighters said smoky conditions are always a concern and that they had crews checking on everyone involved in the fire.