More than 100 firefighters battled a massive fire in the center of the Australian city of Sydney on Thursday that destroyed a seven-storey building and threatened neighboring buildings in the Surry Hills area, AFP reported.

Firefighters were going to put out the fire after two hours of effort, News.ro reports.

The quarter located near the Central Station was not used.

Flames rose from the building almost to the height of a multi-story building, as well as thick smoke.

According to the video released by the rescuers, a piece of the wall from the top floor of the building fell to the ground near the burnt pickup truck.

“The building is about to collapse and the fire is starting to spread to several nearby buildings, including residential buildings,” New South Wales Fire Service officials warned.

“More than 100 firefighters and 20 vehicles arriving from several barracks are continuing efforts to extinguish the fire,” firefighters said in a statement after nightfall.

Two nearby buildings, also apparently empty, caught fire, firefighters said.

“Our crews extinguished smaller fires that threatened to spread to surrounding properties, including residential properties,” they announced.

According to them, the intervention of firefighters was supposed to last the night from Thursday to Friday.

During the intervention, a firefighter was slightly injured, the rescuers reported, clarifying that there were no casualties among the population, and urged them to “avoid the sector during the work.”

The local press writes that this building destroyed by fire was a security building, a former hat factory.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known.