A rural convenience store was severely damaged during an earlyevening fire Monday.

Zetus Grocery at 1380 Zetus Rd. sustained heavy structuraldamage in the cooking area, and fire officials estimated smokedamage to the building’s contents at around 50 percent.

The fire destroyed all of the cooking equipment at the store,said Zetus Fire Chief Dale Anding.

“Damage was pretty heavy right there in the kitchen, but Ibelieve it’s possible she could reopen,” he said.

Zetus Grocery is run by Susan Webb, who leases the building fromCharles Cupit.

No one was injured in the fire that started shortly after Webbclosed the store for the night, Anding said.

Webb closed the store around 6 p.m., and the fire department waspaged around 6:20 p.m., the chief said. He believed a passerbynoticed the fire and called it in.

“It apparently caught in the kitchen area,” Anding said.

Firefighters contained the blaze against one wall, but it wasnearly out when they arrived.

“The fire basically smothered itself out because of lack ofoxygen,” Anding said. “It was pretty much out when we went in. Itwas hard to see through all the smoke.”

Loyd Star and Hog Chain Volunteer Fire Departments assisted withthe fire, the chief said.

“Everyone did an outstanding job. It could have been dangerouswith all the gas tanks if the fire had got caught good,” hesaid.

The state fire marshal and county fire investigator will be onthe site Tuesday to begin their investigation, Anding said.