AUSTINTOWN, Ohio - Mahoning Avenue and Four Mile Run Road in Austintown has reopened to traffic after being closed for a better part of the day on due to a massive fire.

The three-alarm blaze happened at around 8:46 a.m. in Austintown at a two-story building that once housed a Japanese health spa and most recently an antique store.

When firefighters got there at around 8:40 am Friday, they spotted smoke on the second floor, which quickly turned into flames.

Firefighters also asked the Weathersfield Fire Department for assistance.

The intersection was shut down so fire hoses could be stretched from a hydrant across the street.

The antique store owner Ted Barber who lived in an upstairs apartment had escaped unharmed and was wrapped in a white blanket.

The fire is taking a long time to put out because of cardboard and other items being stored inside.

Bob Williams, the Assistant Fire Chief for the Austintown Twp. Fire Department, said, "This place is just full of cardboard, stuff that he uses for his business, he also refinishes and sells antique stuff out of the structure and it was completely packed when the guys tried to make entry."

The Austintown Fire Chief, Andrew Frost, told 21 News he ultimately determined it was too dangerous to send firefighters into the structure to battle the blaze, so they went into defensive mode.  They waited for the fire to come through the roof so they could get to the heart of it, and they did.

It's unclear exactly where the fire started, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

The building was on the foreclosure list for Mahoning County and set for Sheriff's sale.