Ike Hubbard, an 84-year-old craftsman from Jonesport, Maine, has lost his workshop to a fire, destroying a business he had run for 40 years. Hubbard is described as one of the last makers of blueberry rakes in the United States — handheld tools swept through bushes to gather the fruit — so the loss carries significance beyond his own livelihood, striking at a niche craft that supports blueberry harvesters across the country.

The blaze broke out on 29 June, in mysterious circumstances, and burned the small shop to the ground during the peak blueberry season, which runs from June to August. Nobody was hurt, but Hubbard and his three employees have been left without work, and he estimates the damage at around $100,000 — including roughly $80,000 in equipment (some of which he built himself), about $8,000 in finished orders awaiting shipment, lost wages and cancelled orders. The setback follows a difficult year in which Hubbard was repeatedly in and out of hospital before recently returning to the work he cherishes.