Years and years' worth of artwork went up in flames in a matter of minutes before sunrise in Houston's Sawyer Heights area on Tuesday, December 20.

The popular Winter Street Studios in the Sawyer Yards creative campus at the center of the Arts District caught fire, which caused significant damage.

Everything Jack Potts has worked for for the past seven years was destroyed.

"This is gone," Potts, who owns the studio where the fire started, told CultureMap news partner ABC13. "There is no lifeboat. There is no 'I'll get a check to recover.' I have to figure out how to recover."

This fire couldn't have come at a worse time. Potts was switching insurance carriers while changing the direction of his business, Bohemian Photography. Staying strong right now makes him emotional.

"You've been beat down enough that this is just one more go... You don't have a choice," he said.

The Houston Fire Department's incident report states that firefighters first arrived at the scene at 2101 Winter St. at 6:17 am. The original call came in as a location on Edwards Street, HFD said.

HFD also says there is now video revealing someone going into a studio and stealing equipment. A large explosion followed.

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Continue reading this story, with accompanying video, on our news partner ABC13.