Marathon residents with dirty clothes can be assured that the owner of the city's only laundromat is working to fix up the facility after it was damaged last week by a fire.

Donna Farmer, who owns the Maytag Laundromat in Marathon, said she and the owner of the property are currently working with insurance adjusters in order to get the building repairs underway.

"I got in there and cleaned out what I could," she told the Free Press on Wednesday morning. According to Farmer, water pipes need to be replaced.

The fire was contained mostly to the back of the facility, away from the washing machines and dryers located in the front of the building.

Marathon City Manager Clyde Burnett said the city has not yet been able to determine the cause of the fire that torched the back of the laundromat early last Thursday morning. Nobody was injured in the blaze, but fire fighters were able to rescue a dog that lived in the laundromat's office.

"The dog is doing wonderful," Farmer said.

Farmer's laundromat is the only such facility in Marathon. There used to be another in the Little Venice part of town, but it reportedly closed down due to cost associated with the central sewer system installation in the area. Farmer is experiencing the same problems right now, she said, and plans to discuss the matter with the Marathon City Council during its next public meeting on July 14.

"I'm not sure how it is going to work out," she said.

Although the city does have some laundry facilities at its public marina, they are limited and only meant to serve boaters living in Boot Key Harbor. The two other nearest public laundromats are in Big Pine Key and Islamorada.