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Flames broke out just after 12:30 a.m. at 4225 White Plains Road in the Wakefield section.

Investigators say the fire apparently started in a record store and then spread to seven other shops, including a nail salon, sending heavy smoke through the neighborhood.

After 40 minutes of trying to tame the flames, firefighters had to make a dash for it, before resuming the fight again.

"The roof started sagging in, indicating that we might have a potential collapse,” said FDNY Chief Edward Kilduff. “At that point, we took our firefighters out of the store and commenced an exterior operation.”

It took firefighters nearly six hours to contain the blaze and two buildings were evacuated as a precaution.

"It was real smoky. The fire was blazing very high," said another. "It was bad. I actually saw the roof tumble down three hours later."

More than 250 firefighters responded to the scene, and at least a dozen suffered minor injuries – mostly smoke inhalation. No civilians were hurt.

“Probably an electrical fire, but they had construction going on over there,” said David Rhee, whose cell phone store was damaged beyond repair.

At first glance, the fire is not considered suspicious, although fire marshals are investigating because of the volume of fire and the number of stores involved.