A South Bend firefighter most likely owes his life to the helmet he was wearing while battling a fire at Lincolnway Foods early Friday morning.

Chief Howard Buchanon shows us 25-year-old Jared Pearish’s beat-up helmet and says, "This is what probably saved his life."

The roof of the building collapsed, causing a wall to buckle, and fall on the firefighters.

They were treated for minor injuries at the hospital and are how home.

But the damage to the building is major and beyond repair.

"Believe me it's not easy," says owner Sam Ammori. "I broke down when I see this. I remember when I started the store before my kids...before all that. And to see that gone to the ground it's just not easy. It's not easy."

"It was pretty much a neighborhood store. And I'm sorry to see it go," says customer Calvin Williams. "All the history that was in this store. A lot of history. I mean, 30, 40 years."

"We've been here for a long time. Everybody know us. Who would have thought this would happen?" says employee David Ali.

Investigators don’t know how the fire started, but are combing through the rubble and trying to piece it all together.

South Bend firefighters were actually called back to the scene twice later Friday night because people saw smoke.

Firefighters say, even with hours and hours of water, it is not uncommon for some spots to stay dry and keep the fire going.

"The entire roof collapsed on the structure, and we had several layers of roofing materials there, and when it collapses on that there are little pockets that sometimes smolder," explains Battalion Chief Al Kirsits.

Kirsits says they are happy with how much of the fire got doused, thanks to help from the Public Work's heavy equipment that moved the rubble around.

Even so, they expect to be called out a couple of more times.