Wilbur Fire Claims Hardware Store

A cooperatively owned hardware store in Wilbur, Wash., was destroyed by a fire Wednesday night, authorities said.

The Central Washington Grain Growers Inc. co-op included a farm equipment repair shop.

The fire was reported at 5:45 p.m., and the gutted building was still burning five hours later.

“The fire department is just letting it burn to make cleanup easier,” said Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Will Thompson. “It’s a very large building, but fortunately nothing else around it was threatened.”

A tractor and three other farm vehicles were destroyed in the blaze, Thompson said.

, DataTimes