Plumes of black smoke hung heavy over downtown Richmond on Thursday, June 2, after the conflagration began to eat away at the building just after 2 p.m., videos shows. Fire crews were battling the blaze that had reached the roof, but they struggled to beat back the flames because the building's standpipes were not working, reports said.
Construction crews had been working at the 901 E. Main St. building earlier in the day, but firefighters have evacuated them. All are safe and accounted for, reports said.
It's unclear how it started.
Several people have shared videos of the fire on social media.
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