LICKING COUNTY, Ohio (WCMH) — A massive fire destroyed part of a well-known tree farm in central Ohio.

Early Tuesday morning, a fire was reported at Timbuk Farms near Granville, with multiple fire departments responding to the scene.  

Timbuk Farms is a commercial-sized nursery and Christmas tree farm near Granville.

“We started the second alarm before we even got to the scene,” explains Chief Casey Curtis with the Granville Township Fire Department.

When they arrived, fire crews found the farm engulfed in a blaze from end to end.

“Heavy, heavy involvement in the back building behind these greenhouses behind us,” directs Chief Curtis.

The fire began around 2 a.m. According to Chief Casey, a staff member called 911 to report heavy fire.

Crews from nearly a dozen nearby agencies were on hand within minutes, but the remote location of the farm presented challenges for those fighting the fire.

“Being without hydrants out here, that’s our biggest challenge. We’ve had plenty of personnel,” Chief Curtis explains. “Once we got a water supply established, that alleviates a little bit of that stress. But it’s still, you’ve seen tanker, after tanker, after tanker, just trying to get as much water on the fire as possible.”

As thick smoke filled the sky, firefighters raced to extinguish hot spots and contain the fire.

Investigators say that several structures were involved including an office building, a processing center, and a shipping area.

Most of the two-dozen greenhouses were spared significant damage.

“The building itself is going to be a total loss. We’re going to continue to put water on it , we have our investigators here,” details Chief Curtis.

NBC4 reached out to the owner of Timbuk Farms who didn’t respond to requests for comment about the loss.

With the worst of the fire now contained, Chief Curtis says it will be some time before efforts to determine a cause can get underway.

“They’re going to have to use heavy machinery to get in,” Chief Curtis warns. “It was a very large metal building, so that metal is laying on top of all that product that was burning.”

There were reports of explosions on scene this morning, Chief Curtis says that he believes those were due to materials and equipment already inside the structures at the time the fire happened.