A North Kansas City small business is finding a new normal after a three-alarm fire destroyed its offices.

Key Cos., a 2012 25 Under 25 honoree, is one of several companies affected by a destructive office building fire May 8 in North Kansas City.

Key Cos. is the parent company of Spyder tools, a manufacturer of various blade attachments for reciprocating saws. Owners Judy and Joe Roetheli were not present when the fire started but returned to the building amid the blaze.

“We got out with our lives, everybody in the building got out, and no firemen were hurt — and we’re very glad for that,” Judy Roetheli said.

The Pioneer Building at 1906 Swift St. housed 13 companies on two floors. The fire began when the wind picked up a not-quite-extinguished cigarette on the rooftop deck. While fire crews were able to extinguish the fire on the exterior, it had already spread to the interior, destroying the second floor.

Key Cos. was located on the first floor of the building, where damage occurred from chemicals and water used to extinguish the fire.

Melissa Place, the company’s executive director, had the foresight to unplug and evacuate with the company’s server. Joe Roetheli said some records, mostly financial, were not digitized and are now part of the debris.

“File cabinets and even the fire safes — we had two fire safes for the most sensitive information, and you know, it wouldn’t be too much different if we pulled them out of a lake or a river than pulling them out of the doors now,” he said.

The building’s landlord was able to quickly relocate the Roethelis and their nine employees to another building in the 1200 block of Swift. They have set up folding tables and chairs for desks, and employees are able to work on salvaged or new laptops. All Key Cos. products are located elsewhere and were not affected by the fire.

Joe Roetheli pointed out that the week of the fire coincidentally happened to be the company’s best week at Lowe’s for product sales.

The Roethelis carried renters insurance and will be able to replace the tangible items in time. For now, they are operating as normally as possible while sorting through the aftermath of the fire.

“We thought we’d get back in that building and rescue stuff. You know, we didn’t think we’d have to even rescue — we thought we’d just go back in and work at some point, but that was not to be,” Judy Roetheli said. “The fire takes away something, but something new is surely going to happen out of all this.”