NASH, N.D. — Bill Sand pulled up to the still smoldering ruins of the former Nash school in a black pickup truck on Monday afternoon, Sept. 12, hoping to start tallying the damage left by an early morning fire on Sunday, Sept. 11. The building housed his machine shop, where he made needle valves and other mechanical parts.

“I had a bunch of CNC machines inside, and parts,” said Sand, dressed in blue coveralls, heavy boots and thick gloves, ready to climb inside the smoky, crumbling structure.

The four walls of the building are left standing, but the roof has completely collapsed. Charred beams loom over the burned-out interior. Around the building, the ground is black where the grass also caught on fire.

“It’s a tough one,” he said.

On Sunday, the Grafton Volunteer Fire Department responded to the fire around 12:37 a.m., according to a Facebook post from the department. With the help of the Hoople Fire Department and St. Thomas Fire Department, the crew from Grafton battled the flames for more than five hours. The cause of the fire is still undetermined.

Nash is an unincorporated community about 8 miles northwest of Grafton. The town is about 49 miles northwest of Grand Forks.

The valves manufactured in the building were for Ideal Valve, Inc., Sand's business. Sand, who lives in Grafton, only worked in the old school building on the weekends. During the week, he works in Minot. This Saturday, he worked in Nash from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., then got the call overnight that his building was on fire.

Sand climbed inside the building, over a file cabinet and a crumpled garage door to start poking around in the rubble. He estimates a $500,000 of machinery was in the building.

“It’s going to be a little challenging starting over,” said Sand.

The Nash school closed after the 2008-09 school year due to dwindling attendance, the Herald reported in 2009. It had been around since 1957 and housed kindergarten through eighth grade students. When it closed, there were nine students and one full-time teacher, who was also the school’s administrator and technology coordinator.

Sand said he has owned the building for about 10 years, since around the time the school closed.

Cars passing by on County Road 9 slowed to catch a glimpse of the smoking structure, and one man, Jim Haug of Grafton, pulled over and got out of his car to get a closer look.

“My mother used to cook hot lunch there,” said Haug. He said he was also out on Sunday night, and wondered how long the old school would continue to smolder.

Meanwhile, Sand sifted through the rubble, retrieving valves and fixtures he hopes are salvageable.