ST. MARYS, Ga. -- It was a sad day for many in St. Marys, Ga., earlier this month when Coastal Cabinetry's workshop burned to the ground.

Salton Nipper remembers it vividly.

"A bolt of lightning hit," Nipper said. "I was right in the door and got shocked. When I looked back, the whole wall was engulfed in flames."

Left behind in the ashes was the place Nipper made his living, working to provide for his family.

"Didn't want to go out and look for a job, but I knew it was going to happen if I didn't get no place to work," Nipper said.

He said the employees at the wood cabinet building company are his family -- literally.

"My son-in-law works here, my daughter's boyfriend works here and my oldest son works here," Nipper said.

But from this story of tragedy comes a story of triumph. A few days after the fire, the folks from another cabinet company, Architectural Innovations Inc., of Woodbine, offered the family a place to get back to work.

"It was open and ready for them to use," Architectural Innovations manager Andy Jones said. "They could walk in the door and get started."

An extra warehouse in Waycross came complete with all the right tools to get the workers back to sawing, sanding and pounding.

"When you can provide a place for them to make a living for their families, that's what we like to do," Jones said. "When you're doing the right thing, you never have to look back."

So even though the Coastal Cabinetry building has been reduced to ashes, Nipper said his livelihood lives on, thanks to the generosity of others.

"It means everything in the world to me," Nipper said. "I can't tell him how much I appreciate it, but I've tried."

Probably the best part of it is that the people from Architectural Innovators are letting the Coastal Cabinetry workers use the building equipment for free until they can get back on their feet.

Coastal Cabinetry's employees said the owner wants to rebuild in the future.