Firefighters found that doors and support timbers had been piled up near a staircase to feed the blaze that engulfed the building early Monday.
The 13,000-square-foot building constructed in 1905 was used to raise bees and to make honeycomb frames from wood left over from making match sticks. The bees helped pollinate the area's crops, and the company often purchased the resulting honey.
Operations at the plant ended in 1989, and the current owner of the 137-acre factory property had hoped to restore it and other original buildings to anchor a development to include single-family homes, townhouses, apartments, shops and restaurants.
``It's truly a shame,'' said Barber Yard project spokesman Jim Stevens of Northstar Engineering. ``The building was historic and possibly could have been saved.''
Marriott Corp. had been interested in restoring the structure, as it has with buildings in worse condition, Stevens told the Chico Enterprise Record. Losing the building means development plans may have to be altered, he said. The property owner put the uninsured building's salvage value at $200,000.
Fire Inspector Marie Fickert said the old factory buildings have been damaged repeatedly by vandals, some of whom removed loose bricks from the walls or set fires that were generally extinguished before they could do much damage.
