PICKENS COUNTY, Ala. (WIAT) — A fire destroyed a Pickens County volunteer fire department early Monday morning in the Dancy community near Aliceville.

Keith “Booty” Cox, president of the Pickens County Firefighters Association, says all equipment inside the building was destroyed, including three trucks, air tanks and turnout protective gear.

“Well it’s tough on anybody to lose things, especially in a rural community, and it’s our southernmost department [just] south of the Tom Bigby River,” Cox said. “That’s the only department that responds to that area. They were able to salvage the LUCAS device and one brush truck that was parked outside but other than that, they lost everything they had.”

Cox tells CBS 42 residents in the area should not be concerned about a lack of fire protection. He says the eight volunteers who were operating from the fire station are borrowing equipment from other local departments until they can get back on their feet. Other agencies are also available to help Dancy respond to fire calls.

“It has to be difficult on your spirit but to their credit at Dancy they spent most of the day yesterday organizing and getting the equipment they need to borrow from other departments,” Cox said. “They are back up and running, although not at full speed, but they can respond to structure fires so that’s a credit to their dedication and determination and commitment to their community.”

Cox says the fire is under investigation to determine how it started. Nobody was hurt and none of the volunteers were in the building when the fire started. Firefighters are hoping to rebuild the fire station.