RANLO, NC -- Three businesses and one church inside a Ranlo building were destroyed in a fire Sunday evening.

No one was injured, but it took hours for firefighters to gain control.

Neighbors reported seeing smoke coming out the backside of the building early Sunday afternoon.

Shortly after that Ranlo firefighters arrived to begin what would become a 5 hour battle with the fire.

"It was sad coming down the road, you could see flames shooting sky high and you pretty well know it's over," said Sam Michaels, whose family owns the building.

By the time he arrived firefighters couldn't go inside.

Ranlo Fire Chief Mark Rudisill said the conditions inside the building were deteriorating too quickly.

"We pulled them out within five to six minutes because we started having roofs sagging, walls bowing out and we knew that a wall collapse was pretty close to happening," he said.

The back wall of the building eventually blew out narrowly missing several firefighters. To make matters worse the 12 different fire departments on scene were draining the city's water supply - a hazard which thankfully was short-lived.

"It was only a matter of minutes, we called the city, they boosted the water pressure up then all the trucks were supplied," said Chief Rudisill.

But even with water pressure restored, the 50-year-old building trapped the heat and the stubborn fire burned for hours. Michaels could only watch as the building his father built melted away.

"You just have many emotions you know from the good memories to the sadness," he said.

The barber shop, appliance store and pawn shop inside are all considered a total loss. The Friendship Community Church was located in the building's basement and was also destroyed. Their evening Christmas party was cancelled.

Chief Rudisill said the fire could have started near that room.

"We think it may have started in the basement due to where the heavy fire load was when we arrived," he said.

Michaels said the building is insured and he hopes the new generation will create a new building and new memories. Firefighters said they were able to control the blaze around 5 p.m. and the flames stopped around 8 p.m.

They won't know the cause until Monday or possibly Tuesday when the structure has cooled and they've removed enough debris to get investigators inside.

6NEWS is following this story and we will have more information in a live report on 6NEWS at 4:30 p.m.