ELKHART, Ind. – Firefighters dealt with a stubborn fire on Olive Avenue in Elkhart Monday afternoon. They thought they had it extinguished once but it flared back up causing even more damage.

The fire started in an office complex owned by the Jamison Lee Companies.

It took fire crews a few hours to get the fire under control.

According to the owner of the building, the fire started in the basement but it quickly spread throughout the building and flames could be seen coming from the roof.

There were employees working inside the building when the fire broke out, they were all safely evacuated.

There were two cats in the downstairs apartment, but one did not survive.

"I gave the cat mouth to mouth and CPR but it didn't work,” said employee Lea Johnson.

The owner was pretty upset about the fire. He just put $60,000 into renovating the upstairs but is thankful he and all of his employees are okay.