Fire crews battled a blaze for nearly five hours in the city's northeast on Saturday, to salvage two buildings at the 35-acre abandoned Edmonton Stockyard, worth about $10.

"The buildings were slated for demolition anyway, so in total the damage is estimated about about 10 bucks," said Edmonton Fire Rescue spokesman Nikki Booth.

Some 130 firefighters and EMS staff ended up responding to the 2:20 a.m. fire at 53 Street and 127 Avenue, she said.

Crews had to call in backup after about 20 minutes because the flames were out of control.

"It was a pretty aggressive fire attack. The buildings were fully engulfed when we got there, and crews had to ensure the fire wouldn't spread to nearby grassy areas."

It took until 5:30 a.m. for firefighters to get the blaze under control. Two buildings - a single-storey and a two-storey - were lost, but no one was injured.

"The area is known to have transients that come and live around it."

Booth said the fire prevented crews from inspecting the buildings for people but they were "fairly confident no one was inside."

She said the stockyard was formerly used to house livestock, and that the fire is under investigation to determine if it was arson.

Arson investigators continue to inspect another suspicious fire at the same stockyard on Aug. 29.