The owner of a local auto body shop has been found dead outside his garage on Buena Vista Road.

“This shop means the world to him. He wouldn't have gave it up for nothing in the world,” said long time friend Rozelletta Blackshire.

Family and friends congregating at Gates' garage, the auto body shop 73-year-old Jimmy Gates loved so much. It’s the very place his body was found.

“He used to work on cars in the backyard before he got his shop,” said Gates’ wife, Willie.

“He's like a father away from home. Kept us straight, kept us in line. Didn't let us get into no trouble,” said Carl Blackshire, who works at the shop.

Like a father to Carl, Gates had five kids of his own. The Columbus Fire Department responded to a fire at the shop this morning. Police said a fire was extinguished on the right side of the building. “The lady across the street there are the Beauty Shop called to where I work. She called down here and talked to someone at my restaurant. Told me to come down here,” said Willie Gates.

Standing feet from where her husband was found, Mrs. Gates struggled to make sense of it all. Police said it appears Gates caught on fire, and ran to the side of the building. Police believe his body was totally engulfed. No one else was at the shop when it happened. Carl said things won't be the same there without him.

“It's gonna be lonely,” said Carl.

Mrs. Gates said she'll miss starting her mornings with her husband.

“He worked all the time. I know I'm gonna miss that because every morning when we get ready to come to work he always gets up first. Then he always gets me up next,” she explained.

Police are calling Gates' death accidental. The body will be sent to Atlanta for an autopsy.