First responders clean up after controlling a fire at the former Alto Garden Center in Greenwood. Mirror photo by Conner Goetz

First responders from three local fire companies were able to quickly contain a fire inside the former Alto Garden Center on Monday evening.

A neighbor called 911 to report smoke rising from the building about 6:35 p.m., according to a Logan Township police officer on scene.

Units from Greenwood Fire Department, Lakemont Volunteer Fire Department and Logan Township United Fire Department were dispatched to the 1500 block of East Pleasant Valley Boulevard alongside an AMED ambulance following a reported commercial building fire.

According to Greenwood Assistant Fire Chief Scott Grace, the fire was under control shortly after firefighters arrived on scene before 7 p.m.

Grace said that a wood burner inside the structure is the likely cause of the blaze that spread to the ceiling of the building.

Firefighters had to tear down portions of the drywall ceiling in order to locate any lingering hotspots after controlling the initial fire, Grace said.

According to Grace, the building was unoccupied when the fire began, and no first responders sustained injuries during their response.

Grace said that the sub-20-degree temperatures posed no problem to the first responders on scene, although lingering ice and snow from the Jan. 24 storm made traversing the site more difficult.

Mirror Staff Writer Conner Goetz is at 814-946-7535.