A fire on Wednesday evening in downtown Tallulah destroyed nearly an entire block of business and a home.

A nail salon, a muffler shop and a Tower Loans office were all lost. A family living in the back of the muffler shop was able to safely evacuate before the fire destroyed their home.

According to Tallulah Fire Chief Harold Allen, the Tallulah Fire Department received the call from dispatch at 7:51 p.m. Wednesday, with the first fire unit arriving on the scene in less than a minute. The fire was contained in about an hour and a half after units were dispatched.

The first fire truck on the scene used a deck gun to start dousing the blaze, Allen said. A second water line was then deployed to create a barrier between Tower Loan and the adjacent State Farm Insurance office. The insurance office did not receive significant damage from the blaze.

The fire department had to perform controlled demolition with a backhoe on parts of the structure that had become unstable.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined; however, Allen said that the nail salon may have been the place of origin based on eyewitness accounts.

Fire units from nearby communities were dispatched to aid in firefighting efforts. Allen said the Tallulah Fire Department received assistance from Tensas Parish, East Carroll Parish, Ward One, Bear Lake and Mound Fire Districts to contain the fire.

The Vicksburg Post will release new information as it becomes available.