According to news reports from the Gulf Coast community of Cape Coral, Fla., about 10 miles southwest of Fort Myers, massive smoke plumes could be seen for miles on Monday afternoon when two buildings, A Plus Roofing and Calvary Connection Ministries, caught fire along SW 2nd Avenue and SW 3rd Street. 

As first reported by NBC TV affiliate WBBH, Cape Coral Fire Department Incident Commander Anthony Demos said 40 to 50 firefighters were called to put out the flames.

"This is one of the more extensive fires I've seen in my career. I've been there over 20 years," Demos said.

Demos added that the material stocked at A Plus Roofing — shingles and tar — added considerable fuel, given that petroleum-based products are highly flammable.

"Once the flames got to the roofing supplies company, the whole thing went up like a match," bystander Matt Sauerland told NBC2.

Sauerland said he called 911 when he first saw the buildings engulfed in flames. Fifteen minutes later, he could still see the smoke.

"We were over the Midpoint Bridge. I had passengers in my car, and I could still see the smoke coming up. It was a pretty big flame," Sauerland said.

A1 Roofing’s adjacent neighbor, Calvary Connection Ministries, was also devastated. Sisters Angel and Tiffany Brueckner said the church has been a part of the community for years and often donated food there.

"I hope God fixes their building and everyone's okay. God was there to help and make sure no one was in there. And then it rained. It poured yesterday when they were spraying, so we were happy about that," the sisters said.

The State Fire Marshall and Lee County Arson Investigation team were called in; the investigation is ongoing and no injuries were reported.