ORANGE, Texas—A lumberyard in Southeast Texas that survived Hurricane Ike with minimal damage has been destroyed by fire.

The showroom and two warehouses at Coastal Lumber in Orange burned to the ground Wednesday night.

The owner, who was staying in a travel trailer in front of the store because of damage to his home, reported the fire just before 9 p.m. Wednesday.

Battalion Chief Joe Mires told The Beaumont Enterprise that the cause was still under investigation but that it was possible a generator in use at the time might have started the blaze.

Mires says the fire began shortly after electricity was restored. It took firefighters two hours to bring the blaze under control.

Mires says trying to put out a fire in a lumber store “is like trying to put out a box of matches.”

Orange is 110 miles northeast of Houston.