Sparks from a panel saw may have caused approximately $85,000 worth of damage to a Northern California lumberyard, according to an article in the Marin Independent Journal.

An Ace Hardware outside Redding, Calif., is reopening after a fire caused by a child playing with a lighter damaged the store, according to an article in the Record Searchlight.

Ace Hardware Express store in Shasta Lake, Calif., suffered fire, water and smoke damage from a Sept. 28 fire that destroyed an adjoining apartment. The fire was caused by a four-year-old boy playing with a lighter, the newspaper reported.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), in cooperation with LG Electronics Tianjin Appliance Co., is re-issuing a recall on dehumidifiers that have already caused more than $1 million in property damage. The recall involves 30-pint portable dehumidifiers sold under the Goldstar and Comfort-Aire brands. 

Orangeburg, S.C.-based Cox Industries and iLevel by Weyerhaeuser have joined efforts to expand distribution of Cox fire- and preservative-treated lumber, plywood and columns in select Atlantic states under the Cox D-Blaze and Ecolife brands.

Cox D-Blaze fire-retardant treated lumber and plywood can help control the spread of flames and smoke, and Ecolife by Cox can help protect wood against fungal decay, termite damage and weathering, the company said.

Ward’s Do-it Center, a hardware store in Hamburg Township, Mich., reopened on May 14 after a fire destroyed nearly half the store the week before, according to an article in the Livingston Daily. 

Firefighters from several municipalities near the southeast Michigan town battled the May 9 evening blaze, which damaged or destroyed two other stores in the strip mall they share. No one was hurt.

Arrow Lumber, a seven-unit chain of hardware stores and lumberyards headquartered in Buckley, Wash., is running into resistance from both city and county officials over a proposed expansion to his Port Townsend lumberyard, according to an article in the Port Townsend Leader. 

It’s a bad idea to spend too much time thinking about the past. But it’s impossible to know where we are going unless we know where we’ve been. In that spirit, here are the top 12 most-viewed stories of 2010 — one from each month — that appeared on HomeChannelNews.com:


January: “Home Depot cuts 800 jobs” 


February: “Mixed results for Ace Hardware” 


March: “84 Lumber closes 10 stores in 10 states” 


April: “At Lowe’s, a Sunday-hours lawsuit”


According to an article on News4Jax.com, a fire at Jacksonville hardware store destroyed about $500,000 worth of inventory.

Investigators believe the fire at Bold City Hardware store on Normandy Boulevard was set intentionally, and the continue the investigation.  The owner said he was lucky the damage was limited to the warehouse.

According to an article in the PostStar.com, Aubuchon Hardware reopened its location in Easton, N.Y.

The new store, at a site that was once a bowling alley, was destroyed by fire in June. Aubuchon has more than 130 stores in New York and New England.