YOUNGSTOWN — The cause of a West Side structure fire is unclear, a department official said.

Battalion Chief Jimmy Drummond of the Youngstown Fire Department said firefighters had to force open the front and rear doors of 1730 Mahoning Ave. Wednesday afternoon to reach a fire that began in the center of the building.

“We don’t know how it started,” he said. “The utilities were turned off. There’s not very much in there.”

Drummond said the call came in about 2:30 p.m. and it took them about 20 minutes to knock the fire down. They remained on scene for another half hour to be sure the fire was completely extinguished.

The blaze left holes in the roof and damaged the side and rear of the building. Drummond said nobody was inside at the time and there were no injuries.

He said the foundation and walls remain stable and the building should be salvageable.

Built in 1960, the vacant commercial building at the corner of Mahoning and North Portland avenues operated most recently as Rick’s Appearance Plus Dry Cleaner. The Mahoning County Auditor’s website shows that it was sold by Rick and Kathy Thomas to RICAR, Inc. in 2001. The listed taxpayer is Edward Carlini of Youngstown.

Engines 7 and 15, Ladder 22 and Rescue 3 were dispatched to the scene and the Youngstown Police Department managed traffic along Mahoning Avenue until the call was cleared about 3:30 p.m.