There were no injuries in the fire, which was so intense by the timefirefighters arrived that a search of the building had to be called off.Four fire engines, two trucks with aerial hose buckets and 30 firefighterswere needed to bring the blaze under control in about an hour.
The fire closed Hillsborough Street for several hours.
Kinko's Copy Center is next door. A passerby ran into the store totell clerks to call 911.
"It went from nothing to smoke filling the parking lot in about aminute," according to Gardner Prabel, who spotted the fire.
The abandoned house had been easy to enter from the rear, and was knownby homeless men. At times, they harassed Kinko's employees. "It's been areal eyesore. We're glad to see it go," said Kinko assistant manager JimBury.
Kinko's closed during the fire, which worried some students who wereconcerned that their college work might be lost if the blaze spread. Thestore reopened for business Friday night at 8:30.
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