"I was horrified, and I got the shakes," said Cavanaugh, 68, who collapsed while watching the fire.
The retired human resources manager and his wife, who live in Plumstead Township, Bucks County, are faced with the prospect of rebuilding a business and pastime that had long been planned as their post-retirement career.
The books were kept in a barn that inside resembled a library, complete with vapor barriers on the walls to protect the collection.
There were early editions by William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway. On one shelf was Cavanaugh's most exciting find: a rare copy of John Steinbeck's 1936 novel, In Dubious Battle. The book was worth about $2,000, Cavanaugh estimated. In all, the value of the books lost was $500,000, he said.
With the exception of Cavanaugh's personal, not-for-sale collection of books on the Civil War, the barn's contents were not insured. The cost of insuring the remaining books as business inventory was "too expensive" and would cost more than all of his other insurances combined, he said. He called the decision unwise, in retrospect.
The Cavanaughs lived in a two-story house, white with black trim, built adjacent to the barn. Peg Cavanaugh, an artist and retired teacher, painted and exhibited her work, while her husband sold books on Web sites, including amazon.com and alibris.com. Then, on Tuesday, at 4 p.m., the lights flickered while Cavanaugh was at home watching Law & Order.
"We had had some electrical issues the week before, so it wasn't unusual," he said. When it happened again, he got up to fiddle with a switch and noticed smoke coming from the barn.
By 9 p.m., eight fire companies and mutual aid organizations had helped put out a fire that has since reignited in small patches because of the debris of wood and paper. The books were burned, and only portions of the barn were still standing. Part of the Cavanaughs' house also sustained major damage.
