NORWAY — The owner of a business destroyed in a fire last month said he hopes to sell the property soon.

“I want to do something as soon as possible and move on,” Tim Paul said of the building that housed Oxford Pine Products. He and his family operated the business on the corner of Marston and Beal streets that for the past 33 years.

The three-story, wood-frame building, which is estimated to be 90-feet long and 30-to 35-feet high, was destroyed early last month when fire broke out in the first floor and spread through the walls breaking out again in the third floor of the 19th-century building, Fire Chief Dennis Yates said.

On Thursday, Town Manager David Holt told the Board of Selectmen they could hold a public hearing and declare it a dangerous building and have it torn down if they believe it is a safety threat to pedestrians, including students of the adjacent Rowe Elementary School. Selectmen opted instead to give Paul more time to try to resolve the issue himself.

“It’s got to be demolished. It was pretty much totaled,” Paul said. The problem, he said, is that the building’s insurance was not renewed in January because they did not have enough money to pay for it.

Paul said he has gotten a quote of $15,000 to $20,000 to take down the building — something he can not afford right now. “If it wasn’t as bad we might have rebuilt,” he said.

Paul said the structure appears to be solid, but he is worried about what will happen when warm weather arrives and everything that is frozen thaws. The Fire Department has set up “do not cross” yellow tape and Paul said he sprayed painted large “Keep Out” signs, but he knows something has to be done with the building soon.

Paul said the family will join a corner lot with the building and attempt to sell the whole parcel. An area businessman has expressed interest in buying it, Paul said.

Meanwhile Paul said he is spending his time filing out job applications. “I’ve never filled out one before,” said Paul, who is 47 years old but has always worked in the family business.

Paul said he has been heartened by the many people who have tried to help him including e-mails from the offices of Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins and a gentleman with a black and white collie who walked by the shop for years and stopped after the fire.

“He reached into his pocket and pulled out $20 and said I know it’s not much but you’ll be out of work for a while,” Paul said. The man then put five $20 bills into his hand.

“I started crying that some stranger could do that. I’d like to find his name,” he said.

Paul said he was able to get some things out of the building after the fire, including the deed that was in a filing cabinet and an old Smith Corona typewriter that his 85-year-old father used in the business. He hopes to have a yard sale this summer with merchandise they recovered that they are able to refurbish.

“Some days it hasn’t sunk in yet.” Paul said.

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