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Fire Destroys Mountainhome Candle Warehouse

BARRETT TOWNSHIP — The owners of a popular candle shop in the Poconos are suffering a tremendous loss. The warehouse where they make and store their candl...

BARRETT TOWNSHIP -- The owners of a popular candle shop in the Poconos are suffering a tremendous loss.

The warehouse where they make and store their candles was destroyed in a fire over the weekend.

And it's not the first time the business was hit by fire.

Piles of charred debris, some covered in snow, are all that's left after the Mountainhome Candle warehouse went up in flames on Saturday.

State police fire marshals were spotted today digging around inside the burned-down warehouse, investigating how it caught fire.

"If you looked this way, it was black, it was horrible," said Jennifer Puhalla-Williams of Canadensis.

Puhalla-Williams described what she saw on Saturday when she happened to drive past the burning warehouse.

"We looked over there and all of a sudden everything was blocked off with emergency vehicles," said Puhalla-Williams.

Monday, Puhalla-Williams brought her two children to the candle shop which is located next to the warehouse to buy some candles.

Her reason was to let the owners know the community is here for them.

"They've been here a long time, as a lot of these businesses have been. So I think when anything happens to one of the businesses, you just, your heart stops," said Puhalla-Williams.

Walter Mosteloer is a friend of the owners and he too stopped by to offer a helping hand.

"To see if he needs help here cleaning up or if he needs a hand doing something," said Mosteloer.

The owner of Mountainhome Candle believes there was an explosion inside his warehouse.

The fire was not the first devastating fire at Mountainhome Candle.

Back in 2005, the entire candle shop and factory was destroyed by a fire that broke out just before the holiday shopping season.

As the fire marshals continue looking into the cause of this latest blaze at Mountainhome Candle, the owners are trying to keep their business going with what they have left on their store shelves.

"We've lost the capacity to make our candles and we have lost all of our stock," said Justine Knipe, the co-owner of Mountainhome Candle.

Knipe isn't sure about the future, but is thankful the community is coming out to offer help.

"I am so grateful that there are such lovely people out there in the world that would take time out of their day to say we support you.  It means a lot," said Knipe.

Mountainhome Candle didn't have insurance.

The owners say they took a gamble when insurance didn't cover the damages from the 2005 fire at their candle shop.

Fire marshals do not believe this latest fire is suspicious.

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