SHELBURNE — ‘Dumpin’ Donuts’ was back in business this past Saturday, despite last week’s early morning fire.

The Shelburne transfer station was heavily damaged Sept. 13, making the building unusable for the town’s Saturday 6 a.m. to noon dumping hours.

The fire, reported by a passing trucker on Route 2 around 1:30 a.m. on Sept. 13, destroyed three balers, all the recycling bins, a skid steer, a riding lawn mower, forklift and highway backhoe. The town’s backup plow/garbage truck was out being worked on, and the town’s primary plow is kept in a separate garage.

It’s a big loss for the town of 372 residents, but it didn’t dampen the community’s spirit.

The town’s administrative assistant, Jo Carpenter, said Tuesday that after the fire she had told people there would not be the usual coffee and doughnuts during the transfer hours, “but there was. People made sure there was coffee. It was wonderful.”

Selectmen chairman Stan Judge said it was nice how well Ken Simonoko, public works foreman and road agent, works with the town. It was Ken, Judge said, who surprised everyone, setting up a folding table with a pot of coffee on it in a temporary office. There were doughnuts, too.

Carpenter said a group of men were there before 6 a.m. and that someone brought a generator to run the coffee pot.

“Our coffee pot did not burn up,” Carpenter said. The pot, she said, had gone home for cleaning. “Some things are meant to be saved.”

Also lost were $3,000 worth of garbage bags. The town is a pay-as-you-throw municipality, which Carpenter said has been “quite successful.”

The transfer station is where the town’s residents get together and socialize.

“During the week we’re all crazy, running around,” she noted, saying that townsfolk really enjoy the chance to catch up with each other.

Carpenter said Paula Simonoko, Ken Simonoko’s wife, has made doughnuts in the past, and Ken supplies lollipops for the kids and dog bones for the canines.

Only one Dumpster was onsite this past Saturday, but there will be other containers there this weekend so people can dispose of their recyclables.

The fire started in a pile of plastics that was set against the outside of the building. Carpenter said the state Fire Marshal has been there and considers the fire to be of undetermined origin.

Carpenter said the Solid Waste Division of the state Department of Environmental Services was due to determine if there were any hazardous materials in the waste that would need special handling. Once the site is released, she said, a contractor will come to clean up the site. She said they are hoping that will take happen this week.

syoungknox@newstote.com