A fire that scorched a structure at Fox Feed and Tack Pet Supplies on the 17000 block of Sierra Highway early Saturday morning has left owners with thousands of dollars in damages and a major cleanup.

“We are open for business, but there is a large mess in our property,” said general manager Jeremy Fox. “The fire took down our largest structure of the three that we have…Given the situation, it is the lesser of all evils.”

The fire was reported before 1 a.m., according to fire officials, and Fox arrived at the scene at around 2:30 a.m.

“When I got there, there was lots of smoke and the flames were mostly extinguished,” he said.

When the first oncoming units arrived to the scene, it was reported that heavy fire was coming from both ends of the barn, according to fire officials. The fire burned all of the supply’s hay and most of their shavings, but the store and warehouse are safe, said Fox.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but, according to Fox, investigators “called it suspicious.” An investigator was at the scene Saturday morning, but he has yet to hear anything about the investigation.

Fire crews at the scene Saturday morning estimated the damages of the 3-alarm fire to be over $70,000, but Fox has received a different total.

“(Officials) have estimated about $250,000 in damages, but hopefully it’ll be under,” said Fox. “We did just receive our estimated cleanup bill, so it’s gonna get expensive.”

The team at Fox Feed and Tack Supplies have not fully considered creating a kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the cleanup and repairs as the business is insured, but they are thankful for the members of the Santa Clarita Valley community who have reached out to them.

“The store has been greatly affected by the fire, but a ton of people have reached out to us and offered help–They’ve come to the store and posted on Facebook offering to help clean up,” said Fox. “We are very appreciative of the community and are extremely grateful.”