LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — As the sun rose on Friday, a Lancaster community looked at the devastation left behind from a fire that ripped through a historic warehouse full of antiques.
A large part of Tollbooth Antique Warehouse in Columbia is now just a pile of rubble.
“It was a huge building," said Phil Lenhert. "There was a lot going on in there. There was a lot of history in there and now a lot of that history is gone.”
Lenhart grew up in Columbia and came back to his hometown on Friday, less than 24 hours after a fire ripped through Tollbooth, a 40,000-square-foot marketplace filled with antiques and collectibles.
“It was hard to fully realize what was happening," said Anne Nye, who had a vendor booth inside Tollbooth for 11 years. "I didn’t envision the whole thing going up in flames.”
She and others looked on Friday as crews demolished the burnt-out building.
“I know many vendors did not have insurance because it’s very difficult to put a number on the value of our items we’re selling there so I’m really devastated for people who relied on this as their full income," said Nye.
“It’s a loss to our business community, it’s a loss to our historic district," said Heather Zink, who is Columbia's borough council president. "It’s a historic building, it was a dress shop when I was a kid, I remember coming in here.”
Zink says Thursday night’s fire was a blow to the community but is thankful no one was hurt.
“Possessions can be replaced, people can’t," she said.
She’s also grateful for the responding firefighters who came from across the region to fight the flames.
“Columbia is strong and we’ll recover," Zink said. "It seems dark now but we’ll get through it.”
Between all the antiques, collectibles, and the building itself, the fire is estimated to have caused millions of dollars in damage.
How it started remains under investigation.
Meanwhile, Boltz Auction Company in East Hempfield Township announced on its Facebook page it will hold a benefit auction to raise money for the vendors impacted by Thursday's fire.
A GoFundMe has also been created to support the vendors impacted by this fire.
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