The cause of a fire that destroyed a longtime automotive repair shop Thursday in Medora remains under investigation.

That fire at Downs Garage at 18 N. George St. at 11:42 a.m. was reported by several people, including Debra Wayman, who lives across the street from the owners of the garage, Rick and Linda Downs.

“I came out of the basement and saw the flames, and then there was an explosion,” Wayman said.

That explosion was the first of multiple ones, she said.

Wayman said her husband, Denny Wayman, had just come home for lunch, and she sent him to check on Rick and his son, Jason Downs, who operate the garage together.

Wayman said she later talked to Rick Downs, and he told her he had just left the garage to go into the house when there was an explosion and the force pushed him into the back porch of his home.

Joe Barnes, chief of the Carr Township Volunteer Fire Department, said the initial reports of several burning homes on fire led to his request for mutual aid from several departments.

Firefighters, however, were able to contain the damage mainly to the garage.

“We were able to get enough water on the right spots in time to stop it,” Barnes said.

Besides destroying the business, Barnes said there was some damage to the back of the Downs’ home and a rental home the couple own at 32 N. George St. That home is occupied by Logan Miser, a Carr Township firefighter, and his family.

Barnes said the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Volunteer firefighters from Brownstown and Driftwood and Hamilton townships along with officers with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department and Brownstown Police Department assisted at the scene. A Jackson County Emergency Medical Services crew stood by at the scene in case of injuries, but there were not any, Barnes said.

A firetruck from the Seymour Fire Department and two from the Monroe Township Volunteer Fire Department in northern Washington County initially responded to the fire but were called off.