State officials are investigating a fire that broke out in downtown Sparta Monday night.
Emergency responders spent more than five hours working to extinguish the fire stemming from an upstairs apartment building on Main Street.
The units and the two businesses located below — a local cable company and a realty office — were totally destroyed as a result, though there were no reported injuries.
Alleghany County Emergency Management Coordinator Daniel Roten says neighboring buildings sustained water damage but are mostly intact.
“What we've kind of been doing today was trying to make sure that these other buildings are sound and secure and safe to turn the power back on so that they can kind of get back up and running, as much as possible, you know, get back to work and get back to normal," he said.
The State Bureau of Investigation has taken on the case, but hasn’t yet identified the cause of the fire. Roten says there’s been an outpouring of support for the residents, businesses and responders.
“One of the gas stations opened up, made pizzas for everybody at 3 a.m," Roten said. "That's the kind of community, you know, we live in here.”
The Alleghany County Chamber of Commerce is also accepting donations to assist those affected by the fire.