A fire that swept through the bookstore Saturday at California State University, Dominguez Hills caused about $2 million in damage before firefighters were able to knock down the flames, a county fire official said.

Fire personnel arrived about 8 a.m. at the Carson campus’s bookstore at 1000 E. Victoria St. and had the blaze out within an hour, Los Angeles County Fire Department Inspector Brian Nicholson said.

“Unfortunately, this is going to affect a lot of students for the coming semester,” Nicholson said. “This is the only location where they had all of the books.”

Fire crews were able to save thousands of textbooks from incineration, Nicholson said.

“The fire was fully involved when we got there and it moved pretty quick,” he said. “We were able to protect just less than half of the building, and that half is where most of the textbooks were.”

David Parsons, an adjunct professor who was teaching an art class Saturday morning, said he was alerted to the blaze by a passing student who then called 911.

Although classes started Aug. 28 and most students have already bought their books, Parsons said he saw several students Saturday morning who said they were waiting for books that had been on order.

“It’s bad timing,” said Parsons, who photographed the blaze. “Usually there are two weeks or three weeks that (students) are waiting on books.”

A cafeteria located below the bookstore was not damaged, Nicholson said.

No one was injured in the fire and the loss to the building and its contents was placed at $2 million, Nicholson said.

Fire officials said the cause of the blaze is not yet known and is under investigation by the Sheriff’s Department.