A fire at a storage facility damaged multiple storage units Wednesday afternoon.

As of 5 p.m., firefighters still were working to determine what caused the fire, Battalion Chief Don Peterson said.

Bismarck Fire Assistant Chief Kermit Schaefer said the fire, reported around noon Wednesday, burned through several units at 2417 Morrison Ave. and caused heavy smoke damage in others. He said firefighters also were working to determine in which unit the fire started.

"We know we've got several units on the south side affected," he said.

Firefighters had to break padlocks on the units to get in and fight the fire, but once they got in they were able to "knock the fire down" quickly, Schaefer said.

He said it is too early in the fire investigation to tell whether the fire could have had suspicious origins.

- Jenny Michael