DALLASTOWN, Pa. (WHTM) – Heat and thick smoke forced firefighters to get on ladders above a garage building that caught fire Thursday afternoon along East Cherry Lane in Dallastown.

“It was a lot of black smoke rolling, two or three explosions inside,” said neighbor Olive Jones.

Jones was one of several neighbors who could not help but watch as the building burn to the ground.

“It’s devastating. I really feel for the family,” said Jones.

The storage garage belongs to Eric Immel, according to his dad Donald Immel, who told ABC 27 his son was working at Sykes Garage when he noticed his storage unit next door caught fire.

“He noticed the fire, took a fire extinguisher and of course that didn’t do any good,” Donald Immel said.

His son sustained minor burns to his hands and face.

“He tried to extinguish it himself, but it quickly grew, which was much more than he could handle with what he had on scene.,” Dallastown Fire Captain Matt Shields said.

Inside the building were multiple restored vehicles and a boat.

“Two hot rods and my boat and I don’t know what else, a couple other cars probably,” Immel said.

Other flammable materials existed in the garage which resulted in a number of explosions.

“From the heat and the fire, any aerosol cans would have exploded from the pressure,” Shields said.

The fire was ruled accidental. A fire marshal was on scene investigating the cause.