The Somerville Fire Department responded to a building fire at 480 Columbia Street at 5:44 a.m. Thursday. The building is a vacant, one- and two-story warehouse formerly occupied by Nissenbaum’s Auto Parts.

Upon arrival, firefighters located a fire in the basement of the one-story section of the building. The stairs to the basement, accessed via a trap door, had burned away, and there was difficulty reaching the fire with a standard hose line through the opening from above. District Chief Matt Wall called for a recently purchased special nozzle to be brought in to assist in controlling the fire. The nozzle, shown in the third photo below, was lowered into the opening to deliver water coverage and help extinguish the fire. Firefighters then brought in a small ladder to use as stairs to access the basement and complete the extinguishment.

Somerville firefighters, with assistance from the Cambridge Fire Department, operated through heavy smoke conditions to bring the fire under control. Four firefighters were injured but remained on duty. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

— Somerville Fire Dept.