DeLand car repair shop recovering after fire

The owners of a DeLand car repair shop are cleaning up after a fire damaged the business on Thursday afternoon. 

The garage manager says he heard a loud crash. He says the ground shook and the lights flickered, then the building was on fire.

He says firefighters told him lightning struck the building during a storm.  At the time, he says there were about 10 cars inside the garage.

The fire was mostly contained to the front office of the building.  Luckily, he says the firefighters worked fast and there was less than a thousand dollars damage to any of the vehicles in the shop.

He says it will likely be a year before they can renovate the building to the point where they can work inside it again. 

One thing they are thankful for is that their kids weren't there. The business is a small husband and wife operation. Their kids sometimes play in the front office.  Fortunately, the mother and children were away when the fire broke out.

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