The Merritt family is assessing the loss from a fire that damaged the contents of the TJ Wholesales store on the northeast corner of the Bethany Square on Wednesday evening. The fire broke out at about 5 p.m. when a furnace exploded into a ball of flames. No one was injured. The fire damaged most of the merchandise in the store. Bethany firemen were joined by firefighters from a number of communities in bringing the fire under control by about 6:30 p.m.