WHITLEY COUNTY, Ind. (WOWO): A Whitley County man is alive after a fire destroyed his home Monday.

Someone driving by the home, on State Road 109 north of Columbia City, saw the smoke around 10:15 a.m. and called 911. The homeowner was working in his tool shop about 100 yards up the driveway and didn’t know his home was on fire.

About 40 firefighters from six different fire departments raced to the scene, according to our partners in news at ABC 21.

Fire crews did go inside to fight the flames, but had to pullback due to the ceiling collapsing. No injuries were reported, but investigators are still trying to figure out, how the blaze got started.