Merchants still reeling from Columbus Farmers Market fire

COLUMBUS, N.J. (WPVI) -- Small business owners are coming to terms with the effects of a devastating fire at the Columbus Farmers Market nearly one month ago.

An inferno wiped out countless stands as it raged back on November 18th, destroying Building 4 and the 10 shops it housed.

On Friday, at least 30 insurance adjusters, insurance company fire investigators, electrical engineers and attorneys toured the remains of that building.

They were examining the outside of Building 4, including telephone poles and electrical hookups.

Then, they took a look inside at what's left of the structure which - at this point - is nothing more than a pile of charred debris.

Somewhere in this mess are the clues to what caused last month's devastating fire.

"Everything has to be eliminated, starting with each tenant, all the equipment that they had, any type of electrical wiring, electrical equipment," said fire investigator Mark Pettrucelli.

Like many here, the Strauss family, the owners of Wicker Emporium - one of the stores that was destroyed - is eager to find out what caused the blaze that wiped them out.

"Our store was totaled from a little bit of the fire and smoke and water damage," said Marci Strauss. "We would have been here 36 years in March."

"We'd just like to know what put us out of business. We'd just like to know what stopped our lives," said Debbi Strauss.

Some of the shops affected by the fire have moved and reopened in other buildings, but it hasn't been easy.

"Now I'm open again, had to rebuy everything. I had to get rid of everything because it was smoke and water damaged, so I lost everything," said Jen Hilsop of Uptown Blue.

And while burned-out merchants recover, the market is asking customers who may have stayed away after the fire to come back.

"We've been open for business and are going to continue to be open for business straight on through. So the holiday season is open at Columbus Farmers market for the inside stores and the outside flea market," said Janice Ackerman of the Columbus Farmers Market.

Once the cause is determined and investigators give the all clear, market owners hope to demolish the rest of the build a new structure - hopefully by June.