A three-alarm blaze engulfed most of a Bronx block early Sunday, destroying a row of businesses, officials and witnesses said.

The fire ignited just after 1 a.m. and spread quickly through several one-story buildings on White Plains Road between E. 235th and E. 236th Sts., officials said.

More than 140 firefighters were needed to battle the stubborn fire.

The buildings share a cockloft - space above the ceilings but below the roof - enabling the flames to jump from store to store, FDNY officials said.

By the time the fire was extinguished at 2:50 a.m., multiple stores, including a deli, a computer repair store and a Caribbean restaurant, were gutted.

"We're tax accountants! We were ready for the tax season," said a mournful Alfred Simms, manager of an accounting firm damaged in the blaze.

No one was injured in the blaze. The cause of the fire remained under investigation late yesterday, FDNY officials said.

Business owners said another fire ignited on the block last December and FDNY marshals had deemed it an act of arson.