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MANSFIELD - Firefighters from eight area fire departments battled a spectacular wind-driven blaze Thursday night that gutted a LongHorn Steakhouse Restaurant under construction off Route 140.

But that wasn't all: They fought numbing cold, whipsaw winds and a frustrating lack of water. The partially completed building was like kindling waiting to be ignited.

The fire, reported about 8 p.m. at the steakhouse in the Erin's Centre shopping plaza, was upgraded to two alarms within minutes, then to three alarms, drawing in the extra fire battalions.

Flames fueled by the violent wind gusts seemed to explode from the free-standing building, spitting red and orange embers in all directions and igniting small grass fires on both sides of Route 140.

The stinging cold did more than freeze exposed skin. Firefighters complained the nozzles on water cannons that jetted water onto the flames were freezing up. Mansfield Deputy Fire Chief Jim Puleo said a fire hydrant directly in front of the steakhouse had apparently frozen. Firefighters had to route hoses to a hydrant across the shopping center, near the Home Depot about 100 yards away.

Water pouring from the hoses quickly glazed into sheets of ice.

A Sharon firefighter was injured when he slipped on ice and was taken to Caritas Norwood Hospital, where his condition was undetermined Thursday night.

Cold is among a firefighter's worst enemies.

"You've got to go slowly, and it slows everything down," Puleo said. "Fire doubles in size every minute. If you can't go quickly, the fire's going to win."

The nature of the fire made it worse.

The partially completed restaurant was "basically a lumber yard," Puleo said, with stored wood and plenty of open spaces for the wind to whip through.

Puleo said the steakhouse was about 80 percent complete and probably would have opened in about a month.

With flames still guttering in the wreckage late Thursday night, he said investigators were "not even close," the determining the cause of the blaze.

The damage estimate was "easily $300,000," he said. Ladder trucks from Mansfield and Sharon fire departments were pouring water on the building at 390 West St. early on, and Wrentham and Easton also sent ladder trucks that were on standby.

Flames reaching about 50 feet in the air were still visible well after firefighters arrived. Heavy black smoke poured out of the building for more than an hour.

Firefighters had the fire under control about 9:30 p.m.

Other fire departments on the scene included Attleboro, North Attleboro, Foxboro and Norton.

The blaze drew numerous onlookers, some of whom stopped their vehicles on Route 140.

A group of Foxboro High School teenagers heard about the fire and arrived early on.

"I can't even believe it happened," said Jason Healy. "It is bigger than we expected."

Another teenager, Brandon Wilson, said, "it is amazing."

The shopping center also has a Staples office superstore and Shaw's supermarket.