"The only thing between that building being saved and that fire spreading is a wall of firefighters," Reardon said.

Danny P. Sata, who said he did not hear the smoke alarm, was doing electrical work in the basement of the store when the fire started.

Sata said he and his boss put the fire out with a fire extinguisher, but added that the flames reignited and the thick smoke forced them to leave.

Although the fire was contained in the storage room of Crate & Barrel by firefighters, smoke filled the street and surrounding office buildings.

Martha E. Jameson, who works for the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, located at 8 Story St., said smoke poured into the association's offices from the courtyard between it and 48 Brattle St.

Employees at Cultural Survival, Inc., a non-profit human rights organization, situated at 46 Brattle St., worried that the fire might delay an upcoming festival of women's indigenous films.

"We're on a pretty tight schedule," said Neil Dakal, an intern at Cultural Survival.

"We're non-profit, but now we're really going to be non-profit," another employee added.

Although yesterday's fire was not very large, Deputy Fire Chief Tom Stack said it was very difficult to handle.

"There was one way in and one way out," Stack said.

He added that the building's cement walls and ceiling and lack of ventilation made firefighters' work especially difficult.

"It's like walking into a furnace," he said.

A Cambridge police officer, who helped keep pedestrians away from the building, agreed with Stack.

"It was a pretty good-sized fire," he said. "They took a beating on this one.