Firefighters got a call about the fire at 258 Broadway at 3:23 a.m. Saranac Lake firefighters were on scene by 3:25 a.m. Within five to 10 minutes of the department’s arrival, the two store cats that live in Aubuchon Hardware — Harry and Lloyd — were rescued.

      Firefighters were called in for mutual aid from all around the region — Franklin Essex and Clinton counties.

      At around 7 a.m., there were scores of firefighters from Tupper Lake, Bloomingdale, Lake Placid, Paul Smith’s-Gabriels, Keene, Plattsburgh and Upper Jay. SLVFD firefighters put out an “all-call” in Franklin County, bringing in certified interior attack members from departments in Bombay, Westville, Malone and Bangor.

      Firefighters in tower trucks were raining down water on the smoldering building and there was still a lot of smoke pouring from the building at the time.

A cross-country skier heads out on the Adirondack Rail Trail shortly after 7 a.m. Wednesday as firefighters from around the region were battling a blaze at the CED Twin Electric Supply building on upper Broadway, Saranac Lake. The building is next to Aubuchon Hardware. (Enterprise photo — Andy Flynn)

      Firefighters were still battling the fire at 9 a.m.

      SLVFD members said the CED/ADK Solar building was burned pretty badly and the Aubuchon building sustained some fire damage, but they weren’t sure of the extent to which the buildings were damaged Wednesday morning.

      Firefighters said state fire investigators were on the scene Wednesday morning and would be investigating the cause of the fire.

      There are lots of chemicals, equipment and even propane tanks between the three businesses in the plaza. The propane tanks in the Aubuchon parking lot appeared intact on Wednesday morning.

      A video shot by Tom Dupree filmed from across the street shows columns of fire bellowing up into the sky, reaching far higher than even the firefighters spraying water from the top of tower trucks right nearby. From where he was standing when he shot the video, at Woods and Waters across the street, “the heat was pretty intense,” Dupree said.

Firefighters from around the region were battling a blaze at the CED Twin Electric Supply building on upper Broadway, Saranac Lake, early Wednesday morning. The building is next to Aubuchon Hardware. (Enterprise photo — Andy Flynn)

      Firefighters used a lot of water to battle the blaze. The water flooded Cedar Street into the BluSeed Studios parking lot, and across Broadway into the Woods and Waters lot. The parking lot of Aubuchon was flooded, in some places the water was knee-deep as the firefighters walked through it. A whirlpool formed above a drain in the lot, spinning debris and litter around.

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This is a breaking news story. More information will be added to this story as it becomes available.