Fire officials are still working to determine the cause of Saturday's four-alarm fire in Jackson Heights, Queens that destroyed a row of stores.

The four-alarm fire began shortly before 10 a.m. at the Acme Furniture Store on 37th Avenue between 84th and 85th Streets, and the huge clouds of smoke were as far away as Long Island City.

Flames quickly spread to nearby businesses on 37th Avenue, including a frame shop, a dry cleaner, a shoe repair store, a liquor store, an art supply store, a packaging store and a beauty supply store.

No one inside the stores was hurt, and of the 270 firefighters who contained the fire in more than three hours, only four received minor injuries.

"You have a lot of that wood furniture, finishings on the furniture. As it extended to the other stores, other materials got involved and let the fire escalate quickly," said New York Fire Department Deputy Assistant Chief Robert Maynes.

"I knew there was a big fire from down from Queens Boulevard from all the way up here, that's how bad the smoke was," said a bystander.

About 60 people were evacuated from a nearby apartment building, but the structure escaped the flames.

"The big priority was, there was a multiple dwelling behind the commercial occupancy that was significantly endangered. Aggressive action by the first two alarms got water between the multiple dwelling and the commercial, and they were able to save that multiple dwelling and limit the damage to the minor smoke and water damage," said FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief Robert Maynes.

For most of Saturday, the stores' owners could not assess the full damage, but many feared they had total losses.

"I don't know what the hell is going on. I know I'm not in business anymore, that's for sure," said Thomas Kourakos, the owner of the shoe repair store.

"I'm trying to wait until they are finished, so I can check what the damage is," said Alex Chin of Kelly's Cleaners.

"Every Saturday, we would take my mom to get her nails done [at the beauty salon]. It was a tradition, and now it's gone. Everything's gone," said neighbor Deborah Hughes. "I just don't understand."

It could be days or even weeks before the owners can decide whether to reopen.