LOOGOOTEE, Ind. (AP) – Officials say seven businesses were destroyed or damaged by a large fire that swept through buildings on a southern Indiana community's downtown square.

Around 100 firefighters worked for hours Wednesday to extinguish the blaze that started in a T-shirt shop in the Martin County city of Loogootee. A front-end loader was used to knock down part of a two-story brick building that was gutted by heavy flames that sent a dark plume of smoke into the sky.

Mayor Noel Harty tells WTHI-TV he's thankful the fire didn't hurt anyone in the community about 60 miles northeast of Evansville.

The Washington Times-Herald reports nearly an entire city block was damaged, also hitting a flower ship, a beauty salon and a lawyer's office. The fire's cause wasn't immediately known.