UPDATED WITH VIDEO--BREAKING NEWS: Fire at Kinnett Auto Sales in Linton

[Order this photo]

The business, which opened in 1964, located on State Road 54, just west of the railroad tracks, was destroyed in the fast-moving blaze.

The fire was reported at about 6:20 p.m. on Monday.

[Order this photo]

Linton Fire Chief Gary Tannehill told the Greene County Daily World that the fire had not spread to the neighboring Bender Lumber Company, or the other residences.

Owner Larry Kinnett called it a total loss.

Kinnett said he and several other employees left the office about 6 p.m. adnd didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

[Order this photo]

"It looks like a total loss. I have no idea of what caused the thing. We closed up about 6 p.m. and about 6:30 p.m. they called and said the place was on fire," Kinnett told the Greene County Daily World in a telephone interview from the scene.

"We all left about the same time, about 6 p.m.," he said.

The fire was under control in about two hours, according to Linton Police Chief Troy Jerrell.

Fire units were called in from Jasonville, Bloomfield and Dugger to assist the Linton Fire Department with fighting the blaze on a night when sub-freezing temperatures in the 20-degree range were covering the area. The Wright Township Fire Department was placed on standby for Linton and Jasonville departments.

Fire chief Tannehill said a field investigator from the Indiana State Fire Marshal's office will be called in to look over the scene on Tuesday. The chief said there was nothing found in the preliminary investigation that would suggest the fire was set.

He said it is standard procedure to seek assistance from the fire marshal's office for fire involvin commercial buildings.

"There is nothing suspicious about it," he stressed.

Tannehill said the fire was well underway when the first crews arrived on the scene.

"Flames were shooting out of the roof already. It was pretty much a total loss," he said while pointing out that the fire started in the rear part of the building where the mechanic shop is located.

"There is no way to tell what the cause was right now. It could have been a gas line. It's hard to say," the fire chief added.

The fire was under control before 9 p.m., Tannehill said.

Click on the arrow below to see live video from the fire scene.

Reports from the scene indicate there were several explosions in the building after the fire spread and breached the roof.

Police Chief Jerrell said he expects fire personnel and police to be on the scene overnight.

He reported that State Road 54 was closed for a period of time to help officers control access in and out of the scene and to keep bystanders at a safe distance from the fire.

Police Chief Jerrell said both lanes of the highway were by about 11 p.m.

Tannehill reported that a Jasonville firefighters sustained an ankle injury when he fell on ice near the fire. He was taken to Greene County General Hospital for treatment. There were no other injuries associated with the blaze.

"This is scary stuff," said neighbor Shea Cunningham, who lives in back of Bender Lumber -- which is located next door to the car lot.

Cunningham said she was at a local fitness club when the fire broke out less than 100 yards from her house.

Soon after she arrived at her home, a Linton firefighters came and told her to wet down her house as a precaution.

"It was to a point where a firefighter came to my house and said 'if you have a water hose hooked up you might want to spray down the back of your house'," she told the Greene County Daily World. "I live right behind Bender Lumber and I was really scared that the fire was going to get our house. I would like to thank all of the firefighters and people who helped contain this fire. I feel very blessed."