MARLBOROUGH, Mass. --
A Marlborough building collapsed Saturday afternoon following an eight-alarm fire on Main Street. The fire broke out just before 1:00 p.m. inside the Central West Grill Restaurant.
Officials said the fire spread to Hogans Hair Design next door and upstairs to nine apartments.
At least 100 firefighters from eight surrounding communities were called in to battle the blaze.
Pedro Lacerda was inside the hair salon when the fire broke out.
"Dark smoke was coming and people said you have to get out of here because we have a lot of fire inside,” said Lacerda. “We got out of the place."
Crews were able to get customers and residents out of the 4-story, wooden building but smoke made things difficult.
"They encountered so much smoke it was hard for them to do a search, make sure everyone was accounted for, that was their primary concern,” said Marlborough Fire Chief, Rick Plummer. "By the time they did, the fire really started to take off.”
The building eventually collapsed, just minutes after the last firefighters were pulled out.
A few firefighters suffered minor heat injuries.
16 people have been displaced.
There was no word on what started the fire.
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