UPDATE: 5:50 p.m. EST - The number of people injured in the four-alarm fire raging in Sunnyside, Queens, has gone up to 11, including six firefighters and five civilians, according to NBC New York. One of the civilian injured is reportedly in a serious condition.



According to firefighters, the flames started somewhere on the first floor of the single story building on Queens Boulevard which houses several commercial shops and spread quickly. At least five stores in the area, including a restaurant, a lingerie store and hardware store, have been damaged. One of the businesses partially collapsed.



Residents who were evacuated from the adjacent buildings took shelter in the nearby Wendy's as they watched the building burn. "I felt the building shake and I started to smell smoke," Nicole Zeinert, a resident said. "So I ran in to get my husband and we grabbed our cats and coats and just ran outside."



The firemen are still working to put out the fire. Queens Boulevard is closed from 44th-47th streets. Cause of the fire is still under investigation.

UPDATE: 5:03 a.m. EST - According to local news outlet Pix11, eight people were reportedly injured, including a civilian with serious injuries and four firefighters with minor injuries, due to a four-alarm fire that started in Queens Boulevard in Sunnyside at about just after 2 a.m. EST. Around 170 firefighters and 39 units responded to the blaze, which raged on for at least two hours.

“Two blocks away from me and still raging. I woke up coughing 20 mins ago -- the smell is so bad I thought my own building must be on fire. Hope they can get it under control soon, been going on for more than 2 hours now. #sunnyside #queens #fire,” Twitter user Alicia Patron wrote.

Original story:

A fire that reportedly started at a restaurant in Sunnyside, Queens, escalated to a four-alarm blaze Thursday.

The blaze engulfed a single story building on the Queens Boulevard Near 45th Street, where a number of commercial shops were housed. “QNS 4-ALARM 45-02 45 ST, COMMERCIAL FIRE ON 1ST FLR,” an automated alert of Fire Department of New York tweeted.

Four people were reportedly being treated for injuries. The nature of their injuries was not known.

A number of videos taken at the scene of the fire showed a heavy presence of firefighters and emergency vehicles as they tried to put out the blaze. Additional fire-fighting units had been requested at the site as the fire grew from a two alarm blaze to four alarm. It is not clear as to how many stores had been affected by the blaze.

NYC's official emergency notification system tweeted out telling people to close their windows and expect smoke and traffic delays in the area.

A WNBC reporter tweeted there was some sort of an explosion in the area, heard by witnesses and that surrounding buildings were being evacuated. Six families have been forced out of a neighboring apartment building, according to ABC7.

This is a developing story.