"I was like it's probably the fire alarm and he's like the day care center's on fire." Christy Pisczek was in shock when her boss called to tell her the place she calls her second home was destroyed by fire.

Marion County firefighters aren't sure what caused the fire at the Creative Kids Day Care center off Southwest 20th street. The cost of damage could exceed $250,000. Besides the visible damage, even hours later, the stench of smoke and ash was overpowering to the people trying to salvage their memories.

"I just kept looking at it and shaking my head. This kind of stuff happens in movies, that's exactly what I told the firemen. That's absolutely unbelievable."

"Firefighters had to ladder the roof. They were able to cut a whole in the roof to vent out some of the very dangerous smoke that was inside. So there were some difficulties we encountered," said Ocala Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Brian Stoothoff.

While no one was injured, the day care did receive extensive damage. All 134 children are now at other centers. The state's fire marshal told Pisczek it could take 9 months to repair the building.