Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 16, 1993 TAG: 9303160266
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: INDEPENDENCE LENGTH: Medium
NAUTILUS PLANS TO REBUILD AFTER FIRE
The Nautilus International exercise equipment plant's main building will be rebuilt after a multimillion-dollar loss in an explosion and fire Saturday, a company official said Monday.Production may be shifted to another building in the Nautilus complex fairly soon, said Douglas J. Stevens, controller for Delta Woodside Industries Inc., of Greenville, S.C., which bought Nautilus in January.
Ervin Maddrey, chief executive officer of Delta Woodside, and Jane Greer, a vice president, came from Greenville to inspect the damage Monday.
The building was insured, Stevens said, but he had no estimate of the loss beyond "millions of dollars."
The Independence Fire Department "is still looking" into the cause of the explosion, the agency's public information officer, Danny Snow, said Monday. The heavy snowfall of about 24 inches may have caused a part of the roof to fall, rupturing a propane line, Snow said Sunday.
Most of the machinery was destroyed in the metal-bending equipment, paint line and general assembly area, Stevens said. The roof collapsed and the walls had structural damage but they still were standing, he said.
All of the company's computer records had been placed on a backup system Friday night, Stevens said. Customer lists and records of accounts receivable were retained.
Nautilus will continue deliveries, he said, "and we hope to replicate the assembly line in another building if we can refurbish and possibly get back in production quickly." The company has about 260 employees.
The company offices can be moved to the undamaged sales office in another building, according to Stevens. "We have every intention of rebuilding. We're trying to build that business and we need that building."
Delta Woodside, a textile and apparel company best known for its Duck Head clothing, is "really spooked" by calamities, Stevens said. Less than a month ago, the company lost two plants at Tellico Plains, Tenn., and Monroe, Ga. to tornadoes, he said.
Other companies were assessing damage Monday at an Independence shopping center from a Sunday fire blamed on a collapsed roof at Guynn Furniture. Snow of the fire department said the collapsed roof probably caused electrical problems leading to the fire.
The furniture store at the shopping center suffered structural damage, and the Sears store will speed up a liquidation sale planned for later in the spring, Snow said.
The snow also damaged the roof of McAllister Mills, an Independence gasket material plant, Snow said.