By RFD Radio/WFMB

STAUNTON – For gearheads and fans of muscle cars and other Detroit masterpieces over the years, a Staunton fire was enough to bring tears to their eyes.

Thirteen fire departments turned out to battle a blaze that took out a large building and more than a hundred cars inside at Country Classic Cars on Route 66.

Staunton Fire Chief Rick Haase said it was no easy fire fight.

“The actual building itself was a lightweight building, you had a wooden frame that had a metal skin and a metal roof on it” Haase said. “The roof collapsed early in the fire so that made firefighting operations even more difficult.”

In addition, all of the water for the fire fight had to be trucked in to the site.

Haase said there was help for firefighters from mother nature in avoiding the toxic stew of the fire.

“We were lucky in that the wind was in our favor most of the night actually moving the smoke away from our firefighting forces,” Haase said. “We used the wind to our advantage throughout the evening.”

There’s no word on a cause. No one was injured.

The Illinois State Fire Marshal’s office is leading the investigation.