HOUSTON -- A pile of twisted steel in southwest Houston used to be a three-story building filled with office furniture, KPRC Local 2 reported.

A four-alarm fire that tore through Carroll's Discount Office Furniture on South Rice Avenue near Glenmont Street at about 8 p.m. Monday destroyed $2 million worth of goods.

Firefighters said the merchandise inside made it hard to fight the flames.

"The building had storage racks filled with furniture," said Assistant Fire Chief Jack Williams of the Houston Fire Department. "You got furniture in rack storage and it's like building a camp fire. Its got plenty of room to get oxygen underneath it to burn hot."

"Everything was in boxes. There was wood and laminate chairs and fabric, so it all went poof," owner Frank Carroll said.

The fire did not spread to the store and it did not damage the store's computer system. Carroll said it would take several weeks before new inventory or special order furniture that was destroyed will be back in house.

"We're still in business ... reordered from suppliers and doing deliveries today, so we're still running," said Carroll.

The business has already started contacting customers about the fire. Anyone with questions about an order may call the company at 713-667-6668.