NORWAY, ME -- An early-morning fire destroyed a 33-year-old furniture business Tuesday that had already been reeling from the economic return.

Tim Paul, second-generation owner of Oxford Pine Products, told local media that he had discontinued insuring the property effective Jan. 1 as a cost-saving measure. He said the company, which once employed up to 20 workers, was down to him and one other employee.

"I'll probably sell the property,” Paul told the Sun Journal.

Paul's parents Maurice and Betty Paul started the business in 1977, mostly using Maine pine for its products.

Fire investigators believe the fire was triggered by an electrical malfunction in the finishing room on the first floor of the three-story wood frame building dating back to the late 1880s. Fox 23 reported that the state fire marshal said that while the building had sprinklers, but they had been turned off.