Danielson Oil Co. is pictured on Crescent Street in Jamestown. P-J photo by Eric Tichy

A multi-story brick building in Jamestown that has housed a longtime family-owned business was heavily damaged when fire broke out Thursday morning.

Tom Danielson, who owns Danielson Oil Co. with his wife Shirley, said it was hard to put into words how he felt after arriving earlier in the morning. “I don’t know. I don’t really have an answer,” he told The Post-Journal.

Around 4 a.m. officers with the Jamestown Police Department had responded to the oil distribution business at 258 Crescent St. after a burglary alarm had been activated. Patrol then came across the blaze and the fire department was notified.

Shawn Shilling, Jamestown battalion chief, said he arrived to find fire on the first and second floors in addition to “smoke coming basically from the entire building.”

He added, “So, we didn’t know how much fire was actually inside the building.”

The bulk of the blaze was extinguished in about 45 minutes, Shilling said.

Being an oil distribution business, Shilling said crews stayed alert. He noted that a tanker truck carrying diesel fuel had been parked next to the structure before it was later moved.

“We have a lot of combustible materials and fluids inside,” he said.

No injuries were reported, and the majority of firefighters left the scene after 6 a.m. Only a handful remained around 9 a.m.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. The building, though heavily damaged by Thursday’s fire, appears to be structurally sound, Shilling said.

Tom Danielson said the company has four employees including himself. He said Danielson Oil Co. was started in 1950 by his father. With his son also involved, the company is in its third generation of local ownership.

City firefighters were busy Thursday. Around 4:30 a.m., crews were alerted to a vehicle fire on Fulton Street, between East Sixth and East Eighth streets. A red sedan sustained significant damage and was later placed on a flatbed truck. An officer at the scene said the fire was under investigation.