Investigators are working to find out what sparked a fire that ripped through part of the historic businesses district in Alfred Thursday morning. Two buildings were destroyed, others were damaged and several students were left without a home. Our Kaitlyn Lionti has been following this story and joined us from Alfred with more.

ALLEGENY COUNTY, N.Y. -- Several business and students have been affected by a large fire this morning in Alfred. It started around sunrise in the historic business district.

Two businesses were destroyed, Alfred Sport Center and West Side Wine and Spirits. Adjacent buildings have at least smoke and water damage. Nine Alfred University students who lived in the affected buildings lost everything but everyone made it out safely.

Community members say it's the worst thing they've ever seen. A witness sent us pictures of the scene.

Amy Cohen, a second year student at Alfred, described what she was seeing. She said, "The building is heavily damaged and other neighboring buildings may be damaged as well. They have the fire departments here from six surrounding towns, there's EMTs, there are on-call EMTs. There are electricians, there's bulldozers, there's people everywhere. Half the town is blocked off. It is just chaos. The smoke is so high it's so thick, you can't even see to the other side of the town."

Alfred University says other students living nearby may also be displaced by the fire. The school is providing counseling and assistance to those who were affected.

There's still no word from investigators as to what sparked the fire.

Fire officials say they'll be on scene for at least another day putting out hot spots.

Photos are courtesy of Amy Cohen, a sophomore at AU.