A demolition crew cutting steel at the Buck Creek Cotton Mills property in Alabaster, AL may have sparked a Thursday morning blaze that drew firefighters from Alabaster and Montevallo.

Firefighters fought the blaze under extreme heat and dry conditions.

Crews working with a cutting torch in a building 80 to 100 years old with wooden frames was the likely cause of the fire, said Alabaster Fire Marshal Skip Leslie.

Five fire engines, including a ladder truck from Montevallo, responded to the fire off Alabama 119.

The fire was contained to the left rear corner in one of the buildings and was out in about an hour, Leslie said. Firefighters were on the scene for three hours, he said.

Firefighters were rotated out every 20 minutes and given fluids because of the heat, Leslie said. No one was injured.

A nearby YMCA Community Center was empty at the time of the fire, Leslie said.

The Buck Creek Cotton Mills has not operated as a textile mill since 1979. The city hired a demolition crew to take down most of the buildings to make way for redevelopment.

A crew superintendent said the fire would not affect their job.

Alabaster Water Board Manager Pete Lucas, who was on hand monitoring the situation, said the mill fire shows the need for residents to conserve water.

Alabaster, like other Shelby County cities, has been under voluntary restrictions on outdoor watering since the start of summer because of drought conditions.

Under the restrictions, residents have been asked to water only twice a week for less than two hours on specified days, with no watering on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Having enough water available to fight fires is vital, Lucas said.