A fire that occured Wednesday night at Reeds Supply Inc., County Road 312 in Townsend Township, caused an estimated $100,000 in damages. No one was injured in the blaze, but the building and equipment housed inside are being considered a total loss. Register photo/LUKE WARK

Marlene Taylor had a hard time keeping her composure Wednesday night after watching much of her boyfriend's Townsend Township business literally go up in flames.

No one was injured, and the cause of the fire is still unknown; however, Taylor estimates her boyfriend's losses to be at least $100,000.

"It could be more," she said. "It's a lot of wood that's burnt."

Taylor's boyfriend, Joseph Reed, 42, owns Reed Supply Inc., County Road 312, which makes and sells wooden pallets.

The cause of the fire is undetermined. It took the combined efforts of Margaretta, Clyde-Green Springs and Townsend Township fire departments to control the blaze, which started between 8:20 and 8:41 p.m.

Taylor said the fire destroyed a barn containing several expensive machines, in addition to many pallets.

"We lost a lot of equipment," she said. " There's machines in there that cost tens of thousands of dollars, all gone."

Taylor said the business had insurance, but she doesn't think it will cover most of the damage.

"It's limited liability. It don't cover a whole lot. We're going to have to get the money to cover the machines," she said.

Townsend firefighters were still on the scene at 11 p.m. Wednesday, but Margaretta units returned to station by 10:23 p.m.

"Anytime you have stored, stacked, bailed materials, once the fire gets into the bundles, it's hard to get water to the seed of fire," said Margaretta Chief Thomas Keimer. "Wind was an issue, and there are no hydrants out there. All the water had to be brought in by (the fire departments.)"