BATON ROUGE — This week in WBRZ history, a fire destroyed The Caterie and the neighboring Claitor's Bookstore and Southdowns Liquor along Perkins Road. 

The fire, which happened on Jan. 1, 2010, burned through the night as the 2010s began. It wasn't until noon on New Year's Day that Baton Rouge Fire crews arrived, requiring nearly 100 firefighters to put it out.

Firefighters later said that the fire caused Caterie's roof to cave in. A day later, crews still sprayed water on hotspots in The Caterie, where $55,000 worth of musical equipment sat in the music studios on the second floor. Some of the equipment was salvaged, but most was destroyed. 

Inside Claitor's, tens of thousands of books, some dating back to the 1800s, burned. The fire couldn't have come at a worse time for Claitor's, with students getting ready to return to school for the spring semester. 

BRFD hadn't faced a fire this large since Istrouma Middle School burned down in 2005. 

Watch more WBRZ history here: