GIBSON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- A day after fire ripped through a township building in Susquehanna County, officials were back trying to salvage what they could and figure out what comes next.
A Gibson Township supervisor expects the total damage from the fire to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
You could still see the smoke coming from what is left of the township building in Gibson Township.
"You always see somewhere else, but you never think you're ever going to get hit hard. We just got new siding, $20,000, just this past summer," said township supervisor Leonard Bartkus.
Video taken by a neighbor shows flames and smoke shooting out the building. Township officials say after employees had left for the day just about a half hour earlier.
"Neighbors across the road call and say, 'Your building's on fire,' and when I got down here I saw there was no saving it," said Bartkus.
Three out of the four township trucks were destroyed when the fire ripped through the building. a brand-new truck was not inside.
"There is a brand new one I just got last week right there but there are other townships loaning us trucks. They've been pretty good."
Gibson Township officials say they were able to recover notes and records from the rubble.
"Two fireproof safes in our office which is buried in this building, after we got the fire extinguished, we were able to pull them out. (There was) a little bit of water damage, a little bit of smoke but it saved all our files," said township supervisor Brad Marcho.
Township supervisors say their meetings will be held at the nearby Thompkins Engineering building for the time being.
The cause of this fire is under investigation, but a state police fire marshal says it does not seem to be suspicious.