Fire destroyed the workshop and equipment of Degner & Son Custom Builder of Cooperstown on Sunday, but the owners said they intend to continue working on construction jobs.
Debra Degner estimated the loss of property and equipment at $250,000, and depending on the insurance coverage, she, her husband, Richard, and son Daniel will re-establish the business.
Degner said the five employees will go to work sites today as planned.
The family business hasn't experienced such a major misfortune before, which is on top of the current economic slowdown, she said, and their church has been supportive.
``We are definitely asking for prayers,'' Degner said Sunday night. ``We don't even know what's going to happen.''
No one was hurt in the blaze, fire officials said.
Lyle ``Butch'' Jones, Otsego County emergency services coordinator, said the fire appears to have originated around a wood stove in the main workshop, which measures about 24 by 28 feet. Jones said Richard Degner had gone to the property at 195 Hade Hollow Road in the town of Middlefield at about 6:30 a.m. Sunday, cleaned the pipe to the wood stove and reassembled the unit and started a fire in the stove before working on painting doors. Degner left at about 8:30 a.m. for Herkimer to pick up supplies, Jones said.
At about 10:30 a.m., Daniel Degner left his house, which was about 75 feet away, to take a customary walk with two boxer dogs to the workshop, Jones said, and was back at the house about 15 minutes later. An unidentified woman pulled into the driveway, honked the horn and told Degner the workshop was on fire, prompting a call to 911, the emergency services coordinator said.
Two 12-by-16-foot buildings, which were about six feet away and housed equipment and supplies, also were destroyed, Jones said, and the investigation into the specifics of the cause continues.
Cooperstown Fire Chief Brian Clancy said the wood-frame building was fully involved by the time crews arrived, and they used water from tankers and from a nearby stream to put out the blaze.
About 40 firefighters were at the scene, where Cooperstown had mutual aid from Hartwick Seminary and Middlefield departments, Clancy said. Milford and Fly Creek crews were on standby. The property is located in the Cooperstown fire district, Clancy said.
The fire was reported at 10:43 a.m., Clancy said, and the crews logged back into the station at about 3:30 p.m.
Jones said the building was owned by Debra Degner.
She said Degner & Son has been in business at the site for 12 years. Her husband had been the lead employee of the previous owner, from whom he purchased the business, which has been operating for more than 30 years altogether. Degner said she and her husband returned from Herkimer as soon as they could Sunday.
Degner & Son is working on building a house in Cooperstown, renovating another Cooperstown house and on renovations at the Susquehanna Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, she said.
``We're going to keep going,'' she said. ``We've built a lot of houses in Cooperstown.''
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