DERBY — There were no injuries reported during a commercial building fire at 23 Factory St. Wednesday.

The fire marshal’s office is investigating the cause and origin of the blaze.

Firefighters were called to the scene at about 8:51 a.m. The 911 call came in as a shed fire at 117 Main St., the address for Home Depot.

However, the fire was actually in a large storage building and office space across Route 34 at Barretta Landscape & Gardens. The property sits between the new Trolley Point apartments and a scrapyard.

The view from Main Street looking toward Factory Street in downtown Derby. Credit: Eugene Driscoll

Flames could be seen coming from the building’s roof and the wall on the Factory Street side of the building. Main Street was shut down while firefighters battled to get the blaze under control.

“From my understanding, this structure was all storage,” said Derby Fire Department Assistant Chief Jesse Marino.

Another angle showing firefighters using a ladder truck to extinguish the flames. Credit: Eugene Driscoll

The office-looking side of the building was used for various landscaping products, firefighters said. Several vehicles were stored in the other section of the building.

“A big challenge was that it was nine degrees outside,” said Derby Fire Department Chief Thomas Biggs. “It was also very tight quarters there.”

A school bus was at the scene providing a space for firefighters to get warm.

In addition to firefighters and EMS from Derby and Ansonia, personnel from Shelton were at the scene, too. Other firefighters from Shelton, Seymour and Orange were on standby if additional calls came into Derby.

A man watches the scene from the Trolley Point parking lot nextdoor. Credit: Eugene Driscoll

The firefighters were wrapping up the scene at about 11 a.m. An official from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection was also on scene to check out and assess the contents of the burned building. Derby firefighters said that is normal given the nature of the business where the fire happened.

United Illuminating cut the power to the property and surrounding area so firefighters could work safely, according to a Facebook post from the City of Derby.

The property used to be Housatonic Lumber, which closed in 2009 after 100 years in business.

The property at 23 Factory St. gained approvals from the city’s planning and zoning commission in 2020 to build about 200 apartments. However, the project never moved forward because of an ongoing legal dispute between the investors.