MAPLETON — Filmmaker Richard Dutcher is used to telling stories of people beset by trials and challenges on their personal paths to greatness.

After an early morning blaze charred his offices in Mapleton on Thursday, real life is mirroring fiction as Dutcher assesses the damages — and moves on with what is left.

Dutcher, perhaps known best for his "God's Army" movies, was looking forward to spending his first day in the newly remodeled office, which his Main Street Movie Company had been using for 12 days, but instead received news of the fire while getting ready for work.

An investigation by the State Fire Marshal's Office determined the fire began when rags that had been used to apply linseed oil to the woodwork on the ceiling were left inside and spontaneously combusted.

No one was in the building at the time.

As he drove to the office, Dutcher, who also was the driving force behind such LDS-themed films as "Brigham City" and the yet-to-be-made "The Prophet: The Story of Joseph Smith," was hoping he had been misinformed about the fire. He saw the smoke from a few blocks away and began planning what to do next.

"Frankly, I just needed to figure out immediately what was going on, if anything could be saved, and what to do with it," Dutcher said.

The fire was reported at about 7 a.m., but Dutcher said it had apparently "been cooking" for some time before that, based on the damage the building sustained.

The back half of the building, which formerly housed the Mapleton City Council chambers, was gutted by the fire. The affected area included Dutcher's personal office and some storage of film prints and other film elements, like sound recordings and unused negatives.

Some of the elements lost included portions of Dutcher's first film, "Girl Crazy," but he was confident he could rebuild the film from surviving elements.

Other objects of importance to the company appeared to have survived the fire.

"Most of our files and most of our equipment was in the front part, and that appears to be good," Dutcher said. "Some things were lost that can't be reproduced, but fortunately, most of it can."

Much of what was lost, however, were irreplaceable items of sentimental value.

"My office was the one that was completely destroyed, so (there were) a lot of things that just meant a lot to me personally, like signed posters from cast members," Dutcher said.

Main Street Movie Company is located adjacent to the city's volunteer fire department. Dutcher praised fire fighters for their work in salvaging what they could.

Brent Seamons, assistant fire chief for the volunteer department, said the 15 or so volunteers who responded to the fire had to balance fighting the fire with clearing out the fire station in case the blaze spread.