Kenly — For the past 39 years, Marion Renfrow has been helping others. Last week, loyal customers and even strangers returned the favor, offering hugs, cups of coffee and money from their wallets.

Fighting back tears, Renfrow on Thursday stood before the ruins of his business, Kenly Tire Service, which had fallen victim to a devastating fire the night before. Charred car parts, cabinets and office furniture were strewn in front of the blackened building. Renfrow’s 1989 Jaguar was covered in ash and soot. A customer’s car had a cracked windshield and smoke damage, but the customer was more concerned about Renfrow and his three other employees.

Watching workers trying to salvage what they could was hard for Renfrow and his wife, Mary. Every few minutes, someone would come up to Renfrow with a car part recovered from the fire. Renfrow would eye the part and say, “We can save this” or “It’s no good.” Sometimes, he just shook his head, still in shock from the devastation of the fire.

“It’s like a nightmare,” Renfrow said. “Fire is worse than death. It’s like you lose everything you worked for in a few hours.”

Firefighters from Kenly, Micro, Bethany, Selma and Wilson County responded to the blaze, which broke out shortly after 8 p.m. last Wednesday. Kenly Fire Chief Paul Whitehurst said flames were shooting out from the bay area, where tires are stored, when crews arrived. It took about an hour for firefighters to extinguish the flames, he said. As a precaution, Selma firefighters sprayed foam on the tires to reduce the chances of the tires firing back up.

The cause of the fire is being investigated, Whitehurst said. “As far as the cause, we don’t have one right now,” he said. “The fire marshal will be following up on that, but because of the storms in the area, it could possibly be lightning.”

Despite the tragedy, Renfrow decided to reopen his shop the next day. He is using a storage shed in the back of the building until he can rebuild. The hard part will be replacing $500,000 worth of supplies that were not covered by insurance. Renfrow said the cost of insuring contents of the building got too high over the years.

Word has spread fast about Renfrow’s needs. Home Depot has donated $2,000, and several people have given their time to help clean up the building. One woman told Renfrow that he was always helping people in need, even if they could not pay for services at the auto repair shop. She told Renfrow she would grab her children and come by. “I don’t mind getting dirty,” she said.

Renfrow is just thankful no one was hurt in the fire. “You can replace a building, a property and a business, but you can’t replace people,” he said. “God has blessed me so much in the past 39 years.”

To make an appointment for auto service, or to make a donation, call Renfrow at 738-1149 or stop by the shop.