A four-alarm fire swept through a large, vacant warehouse in East Boston Saturday night, closing traffic for several hours in a busy commercial area of Central Square.

One firefighter was treated for a back injury in the heavy fire that started at 170 Border St. around 6 p.m. Fire crews from across Boston and neighboring Chelsea fought the blaze from multiple angles.

“There was not a large volume of fire in there, but it was a tough fire to find,’’ Boston Fire Department Chief of Operations Jerry Fontana told reporters at the scene. “It was up in the roofline, so it wasn’t easy to access.’’

Ladder trucks shot water into the top of the building from trucks parked on Border Street and a from a truck parked at a McDonald’s next door. Firefighters sprayed water through the front windows and used saws to cut open the building’s rolling steel doors.

Inside, firefighters found multiple heavy steel Dumpsters that did not “appear to be in use,’’ the department wrote on Twitter.

The building measures 200 feet long by 100 feet wide and is located behind the McDonald’s restaurant and next to Liberty Plaza, a strip mall.

None of the surrounding businesses were evacuated, Fontana said.

“It wasn’t a large fire. I don’t think it produced a large amount of smoke. . . . I don’t think there was cause for evacuation,’’ he said.

The cause of the fire is being investigated. There was no estimate on damages Saturday night, officials said.

According to City of Boston property records, the building is owned by One 70 Border Street LLC. The land and building have an assessed value of $640,675, property records show.

An official with the company could not be reached for comment Saturday night.

Border Street was closed to traffic for much of the night. Fire crews remained on the scene for several hours “pouring water on some hot spots,’’ said Steve MacDonald, a Fire Department spokesman.

One firefighter suffered a back injury and was treated at the scene. He was taken to a hospital and later released, MacDonald said.

The temperature was in the low 30s in Boston Saturday night, according to the National Weather Service.

But Fontana said he did not think the weather made it more difficult for firefighters to battle the blaze.

“It’s not that cold yet and I don’t see any ice on the ground, and I haven’t heard anybody complain of any type of frozen conditions. But, you know, if it keeps getting colder it certainly at some point is going to be a problem,’’ he said.

Heavy smoke and billowing flames caught the eye of local residents.

Joseph Farrenkopf said he could smell the smoke from the fire in his home, which is about a five-minute walk away. He said he went to check out the fire and saw smoke drifting down Border Street.

Farrenkopf said he thought the building was vacant and had never seen people or vehicles going in or out.

“There really hasn’t been anything in the five years I’ve lived here. I haven’t seen any kind of activity,’’ he said.

Jacob Carozza can be reached at jacob.carozza@globe.com.