A large fire ripped through a building at Minick Tree Service and Slabs at Route 308 and Mahood Road in Clay Township on June 28. No one was injured.

A Center Township couple is working to recover from a June 28 fire that destroyed a building and a large amount of product at their lumberyard/sawmill at Route 308 and Mahood Road in Clay Township.

The blaze swept through a Quonset hut-style building at Minick Tree Service and Slabs. The building contained lumber cut for tables, bars, benches, decks, sheds and other needs.

Also lost in the building was equipment including three kilns used to dry wood, tools and a large planer.

Firefighters from a number of departments were able to prevent the fire from spreading to a second Quonset hut-style building behind the building that was destroyed.

Owners Kerm and Sally Minick did not have insurance on the property. They estimated damage at around $100,000.

“We're trying to raise money to get electrical service to that back building,” Sally Minick said. The building, she noted, houses a bandsaw and a portable saw. Funds also will be used for equipment.

The owners are holding a “Small Business Recovery Sale” — from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday — offering excess rough-cut, air-dried lumber to the public. None of that lumber, they noted, was in the fire. There will also be a limited number of regular-priced slabs on hand.

“Proceeds from this sale,” Minick said, “will be used to begin the essential rebuilding of a new kiln, which was lost in the fire.” A planer is also needed.

Because of the extensive damage to the building, the cause of the fire has been listed as “undetermined.” Trooper DuWayne Baird, a deputy fire marshal, said Wednesday.

“But I can't rule out electrical,” he said, noting that the building had electricity connected to it. Baird said he found evidence of arcing on the electrical box while investigating the fire.

A next-door neighbor also reported that the electricity at his house and at least two other nearby homes “blinked on and off” momentarily about the time it appeared the fire started in the front corner of the building where the electrical box was located.

The Minicks, meanwhile, offered their thanks to friends, family and the community for the “outpouring of love and support shown” in the wake of the fire.

“We also appreciate the small businesses in the area who rallied around us to offer their assistance,” the couple posted on their business Facebook page. “There are simply no words to express our heartfelt gratitude for the compassion and kindness extended toward our family during this difficult time.”