UPDATED 2:21 p.m. with information from Tuscola fire chief.

TUSCOLA — A recycling business in Tuscola was destroyed by fire Tuesday.

“We’ve lost everything,” said Mike Bryant, one of the family members who own Bryant Industries.

But he said he hoped the company would have a temporary facility up and running by the end of this week or the start of next week.

The block walls and metal trusses of the building remained standing, said Fire Chief Steve Hettinger of the Tuscola Fire Department.

The company’s facility on U.S. 36 caught fire early Tuesday morning. Bryant and Hettinger said a spark from a worker's cutting torch caused the fire.

Hettinger said the alarm came in at 4:27 a.m. The rear third of the building was engulfed in flame and smoke when firefighters arrived four minutes later, he said. Using two tanker trucks, firefighters got the bulk of the fire knocked down, but had to wait for more water and the fire "regained control," he said.

"It had progressed at that point into the middle third of the building," he said. "We did save a good portion of the (front of) the building," where offices suffered some smoke and water damage, but no fire damage, he said.

Hettinger said several firefighters were treated at the scene for heat-related stress. One planned to see a doctor, he said.

"Unfortunately, firefighters can't operate without their gear, and that makes it that much hotter," he said, noting that when the fire call came in the temperature was 78. "It could have been worse," he said.

Firefighters from Atwood, Arcola and Arthur, as well as from the Lyondell Chemical firm near Tuscola, helped fight the fire. Villa Grove firefighters manned the Tuscola fire station, and Arrow Ambulance responded as well. Firefighters left the scene at 9:30 a.m.

Bryant said he got a call at 5:30 a.m. about the fire.

He said the building — a recycling center that processes materials brought in by individuals or companies — is about 250 by 100 feet.

“Part of the building is going to have to be (demolished),” he said, adding that the front part might be salvageable.

He put the loss at “seven figures,” but added that “we won’t know yet” until cleanup is finished.

Hettinger said the contents were "pretty much a total loss" and used Bryant's estimates of $500,000 each in value for the building and its contents.

Bryant said the company did not have fire insurance for the facility.

By late Tuesday morning, he said, he expected power to the site to be restored by noon and expected to have a temporary office set up as quickly as possible.