Fire destroyed a building in the Willow Oak Industrial Park at Cobbs Creek on Monday, also wiping out all the equipment and supplies of a contracting business that was renting the structure.

Mathews Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ronnie Lewis said that fire crews were on the scene of the fire at Bayside Joinery just six minutes after dispatchers received the call at 12:55 p.m. They reported smoke showing and attempted to make an interior attack, he said, but when they opened the main entry and saw the amount of fire, they had to back out.

“It was too large for an interior operation,” Lewis said, “so the operation turned defensive.”

Large amounts of wood and building supplies such as finishing materials were being stored at the site, he said, so “the fire load was quite high.”

The fire had ventilated itself by burning through a set of garage doors, allowing the wind to drive through and fan the flames, said Lewis. With staffing at the fire department low, the fire, fed by those high winds in sub-freezing temperatures, overwhelmed the capacity of the department to handle it, he said, so the crew called for mutual aid from Gloucester and Middlesex, both of which responded.

“We didn’t have enough water supply or resources to put it out,” he said. “It was just too big, and the fire load inside the building was overwhelming.”

Two Mathews firefighters were injured during the fire, said Lewis. One was burned and the other sustained a shoulder injury. He said he could not discuss the extent of either injury.

Fire crews remained on the scene until 4:37 p.m., with an excavator opening up the building for final extinguishment, said Lewis.

Lewis said that Mathews had four engines, a tanker and an ambulance from Mathews Volunteer Rescue Squad on the scene. In addition, Gloucester County Fire and Rescue Squad sent an engine, a tanker, and a ladder truck, while Hartfield Volunteer Fire Department supplied a tanker and Deltaville Volunteer Fire Department sent its ladder truck. He said he appreciated the assistance of all the other departments. “They were a big help,” he said.

On Tuesday morning, the structure, which belongs to Eugene Cook of Midlothian, was a mound of blackened, twisted metal.

Lewis said that the part of the building that sustained the most damage was the side that faces Willow Oak Drive. He said that a woodstove on that side of the building had been used that morning. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, with the Mathews County Sheriff’s Office assisting.

Bayside Joinery

Rick Andrews, owner of Bayside Joinery, said that he and one of his workers had been at the shop for a short time Monday morning, but had left because it was too cold to work. He said the shop was insulated, but not air tight, and that wind was able to get in through gaps around the huge doors on the end. He said he was called shortly after the fire started, and he watched as all of his woodworking equipment, accumulated over the past 20 years, was enveloped by flames.

In addition to the stocks of wood he had for various projects, such as building the lighthouse-style homes he designs and engineers himself, Andrews had an attached storage trailer that was filled with expensive hardwoods that he kept on hand for special projects. All of it was destroyed.

“All of these things I’ve taken for granted over a long period of time are gone,” he said. “But I have to focus on that it’s a property loss, not a people loss.”

Fortunately, Andrews said he had recently moved panels for his latest lighthouse-style home to the job site, so he will be able to finish that project. But a project he’s been negotiating for a while—building a lighthouse home in Florida—is less certain, since “all I have now is a piece of concrete slab.”

A blue “tiny home” that Andrews built recently and had on-site was covered with soot but undamaged, he said. “I thought I’d power wash it,” he said, “then I remembered I don’t have a power washer anymore.”

Andrews said he is overwhelmed by the outpouring of support he has received from friends in Mathews and Gloucester, including Robbie Whitehurst and others who have offered the use of tools and former customers, church members and others who have expressed their concern.

“It’s been a very emotional event,” said Andrews. “At this point, we’re planning how we’re going to rebuild. We’re down, but we’re not out yet.”