BYRON, MI -- About 125 years of history was reduced to a charred brick shell after fire tore through a block of downtown early Monday.

Fire destroys Byron buildings 7 Gallery: Fire destroys Byron buildings

"It's a part of this town," said Connie Brown, a stylist at a salon destroyed in the blaze. "It's sad to see it go. It's not like you can rebuild history."

Eleven fire departments from three different counties fought the 2:30 a.m. blaze that engulfed a line of buildings along the western side of the 100 block of Saginaw Street in Byron.

Burns Township Fire Department Lt. Wade Prestonise said smoke could be seen coming from the buildings when firefighters arrived on scene this morning. Flames were visible soon after, he said.

There were no reports of injuries. and a state police fire investigator is probing the cause.

Prestonise said at least four of the buildings were damaged by the fire. A fifth building, the southernmost one that is the home to a kids re-sale shop, suffered water damage.

Burns Township Clerk Sharon Granger, who has lived in the Byron area for 81 years, said the line of buildings have played host to a number of businesses since they were built, including a dry-goods store, a harness shop, a cobbler and Campbell's patent medicine shop since they were first built around 1887.

"This town was self-contained to take care of itself," Granger said.

She fondly remembered the ice cream parlor's marble bar, the lunch counter where "you could get a good meal" and the events the Order of the Eastern Star and Masons used to have on the top floors of the two-story buildings.

But things changed over the years and the buildings eventually began to fall into disrepair, she said.

Monday's was the third fire at the buildings, which now housed multiple businesses, including a salon, hardware store, restaurant and re-sale store, said Granger.

Granger said the township had been in discussions to hire an enforcement officer to ensure that the area's 65 rental properties, including those in the now fire-ravaged buildings, were up to code.

Byron Police Chief Tim Sampey said that the Red Cross was on hand to assist the residents of two apartments that were in the buildings.

Sampey said that the buildings would be boarded up and fenced off until a decision is made on what to do with them.

Granger said she was unsure on the future of the buildings.

"They're probably going to have to take them down," Granger said. "I don't know what will happen."

Jodi Ward, who works as a nail tech at the salon that burned, watched this morning as firefighters battled flames in the salon where she worked.

"A coworker called me about quarter-to-four and said the town of Byron is on fire," said Ward, adding she doesn't know what the future holds for the business or her job.

The fire resulted in an unexpected day off for students in the Byron Area Schools District.

School superintendent Tricia Murphy-Alderman said there were concerns over the large amount of smoke and she did not want school buses and other traffic to block the town's roads. She also said the fire department needed to use the school's water to try and battle the blaze.

"It's just unbelievable that it happened," Murphy-Alderman said. "It's very, very sad."