Officials said a fire that broke out Monday evening at the Port of Los Angeles near Wilmington, although contained, would likely smolder through the night.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a fire of this magnitude,” said Los Angeles City Fire Capt. Jaime Moore, who added that firefighters would be working through the night.

More than 150 firefighters on water-spraying boats and divers in the water with hoses attacked the huge fire that burn under a warehouse in the Port of Los Angeles, containing it about 8:30 p.m.

The fire was on Berths 177 and 179 in a 40-acre area from where big cargo ships load and unload.

The fire threatened a concrete warehouse belonging to Pasha that sits on top of the wharf at Berths 177-178.

The fire was not directly burning in the warehouse, which houses steel sheets, coils, rebar and other steel materials, but rather was licking the pier underneath the warehouse, Los Angeles city fire spokeswoman Katherine Main said.

It appears that parts of the wharf gave way as fire raged below, said Arley Baker, the port’s communications director.

About one-third of the 150-foot wharf was involved in the fire.

“This is an extremely challenging fire for the Port of L.A.,” Moore said.

The Main Channel was shut down as a precaution but was expected to reopen Wednesday morning.

The APL and NYK terminals were evacuated due to smoke, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

“We’ve closed down some of the other container terminals as a precaution,” said port spokesman Phillip Sanfield.

He added that Pasha said it would plan on opening for “partial operation tomorrow.”

Although it was too early to tell how overall port operations will be affected, he said, in past incidents, the port has made up the time.

“This fire has never been a danger to human life,” fire Capt. Moore said, adding that the danger is to the berth and the product. He did say no containers were damaged.

The World War II era wharf had wood pylons coated in creosote, which caused heavy black smoke to billow across the port. All firefighters were wearing breathing apparatus to guard against fumes from materials used to coat the pylons.

The fire was first reported as burning in a wharf under the large building at Berth 179 near Fries Avenue at a steel dock about 6:30 p.m.

Four employees in the building were evacuated and workers on tugboats were moving large ships away from the blaze. Two large cargo ships and some smaller boats were moved to safety.

“It’s proven the only effective means to fight this fire is with fireboats,” Main said on a television broadcast showing the blaze live. “Divers are actively in the water right now. They are assessing the scene and fighting the fire from our fireboats.”

Five fireboats from the city of Los Angeles were assisted by additional fireboats from neighboring Long Beach.

The largest fireboat involved can shoot 38,000 gallons of water a minute, Main said.

Although thick black smoke was spewing into the air, no residential evacuations were necessary because the blaze was in an isolated area away from Wilmington residential neighborhoods.

No injuries were reported.

A hazardous materials team was on the scene, “but [there is] no significant impact at this moment” Moore said late Monday.

“Arson investigators have located the area of origin,” but there was no reason to suspect it was intentionally set, Moore said. The cause was still unknown as of late Monday night.

—The Associated Press and Larry Altman contributed to this report.