Roberts Company lost most of its inventory in a fire just before they were scheduled to take their year-end physical inventory. The following information is available from the companys financial records:

Beginning inventory $ 260,000

Purchases 680,000

Purchase returns 66,000

Sales 809,000

Sales returns 27,000

Gross profit as a % of net sales 30%

Inventory totaling $40,000 (at cost) remained undamaged by the fire.

Estimate the dollar amount (at cost) of inventory lost in the fire.