SUGARCREEK (Tusco TV) - Vendors are continuing to sort through the rubble in the aftermath of a structure fire that gutted the Walnut Creek Amish Flea Market early Wednesday morning.   

Manager Ashley Spears says the fire destroyed the middle portion of the main building where that housed around 20 vendors selling everything from furniture and home decor to gardening items and books. Spears says as bad as the damage was, it definitely could have been much worse.

"I mean, we were lucky right off the bat because nobody was in the building so we’re very grateful for that. It happened while we were closed overnight. We thought a lot more was actually damaged but fortunately, right now, you’ll see it’s just the blue section that was rather damaged."

Spears says their biggest concern right now is the vendors. She says many of them did not carry insurance and some are losing their livelihoods for the second time because they were part of another area market that caught fire years before.

“It’s opening up old wounds for them. They’ve had this happen before. For some of our new ones that have not experienced that, it’s new territory, and everyone you’ll see is just kind of walking around with this. They’re lost. We’re all lost. We just don’t know how to process this.”

Spears says an online fundraising page has been set up to help the vendors.  

"If they go to our Facebook, which is Walnut Creek Amish Flea Market, we have it posted on there and it will take you right to that link for gofundme, and I do believe that gofundme you’ll just look for Walnut Creek Amish Flea Market as well."

Spears says they are already making plans to rise from the ashes and rebuild. She says people can check out their Facebook page for updates and additional opportunities to help.

"There’s a lot of talk of things happening in the local area. We will be sharing all that on our social media as well. Just stay in contact. We will be rebuilding. The big thing here is we’re not quite sure when we’ll be open again or how long we’ll be down for, but when we reopen, just come back and see us. Come see the vendors. So many of them just want to come back, want to be here, want to open back up and start over."

TUSCO TV