Firefighters battled a fire at a used car dealership on Main Street in Manchester Friday morning that extended to the siding of a neighboring home.
Manchester Fire Chief Daniel French said 11 cars inside the building were on fire and the building's concrete walls were compromised due to the heat.
A lieutenant called in the report of fire on Main Street around 9:30 a.m. and crews found heavy fire coming from an automotive shop.
The sign on the building says Capitol Automotive. It is a used car dealership, according to its website.
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The fire was escalated to two alarms and firefighters from Hartford, East Hartford and South Windsor came in to help.
Firefighters worked to put the fire out from above because of the combustibles inside the building.
Police diverted traffic on Main Street for several hours.
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An excavator was brought in to tear down the building due to the unstable walls damaged by fire.
French said welding might have started the fire, but the fire marshal will be investigating to see if that was actually what started it.
Two people were in the garage and two people were in the home the fire extended to, French said.
They were all able to make it out OK.
Crews from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection responded and they are monitoring run-off into storm drains that empty into Bigelow Brook.
They said they have only seen oily sheen.
When it is safe to do so, they plan to investigate to determine whether there were paints, solvents or other chemicals in the structure.
