Photo Gallery | Nine fire departments battle blaze in small Midlands town

A fire has damaged or destroyed five businesses in the town of North in Orangeburg County.

The town's fire chief said a call was placed to the fire department by a passerby around 6:05 on Sunday morning about smoke coming from a building at 4569 Savannah Highway.

When firefighters arrived to the intersection of Savannah Highway and Sallie Road, they saw flames coming from several of the buildings.

North Fire Chief Greg Gambrell said nine fire departments worked to bring the blaze under control.

"We had one down the street a couple of years ago, a hardware store. That was a major fire. But this one as far as taxing our resources and having to call in additional resources, it was one of the largest we've had in quite a while," said Gambrell

The fire burned four separate bulldings and destroyed or damaged five businesses. Another business was impacted by smoke.

Nobody was injured.

A cause has not yet been determined, but investigators believe the fire started near the back of one of the buildings.

Gambrell said foul play is not suspected.