Fire burns through two businesses in southeast Houston

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Arson investigators are working to determine the cause of an early morning fire one that destroyed one business and severely damaged another.

The fire broke out around 3:00am inside the King Fashion Beauty Supply store in the 7100 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Initially the fire was dispatched as a hazardous materials alarm due to the presence of gas pumps in the parking lot. The King Food Store and gas station sits directly next to the beauty store.

Arriving fire crews shut off the power to the gas pumps, and the fire scene was downgraded to a one-alarm blaze.

"Presented some challenges. Nothing we haven't encountered before. We had to go in through the side of the convenient store because the structural integrity of the building is in bad shape," said district Fire Chief Mark Watson.

The fire was extinguished shortly before 4:00am. No injuries have been reported.

Firefighters say the beauty supply store is a total loss. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.