THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 15, 1995 TAG: 9502150456
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
A powerful and quick-moving fire destroyed a brick and cinder block furniture warehouse in minutes Tuesday afternoon.
The building, set back off the main store of Sawyer's House of Furniture on Hughes Boulevard, burned for about half an hour as flames tore it from end to end and threatened nearby homes and buildings.
Two employees' trucks, parked on the south end of the building near Chestnut Street, were destroyed, along with a small wooden shed on the east end of the warehouse. Other car owners rushed to move vehicles parked across the street as shifting wind sent a heavy sheet of thick smoke and ashes across the area.
No one was seriously injured.
``You can see that from the other side of town,'' said one witness, who had been traveling south to Weeksville when the smoke caught his attention.
The fire destroyed much of the inventory of Sawyer's Furniture, which was opened 40 years ago by William Sawyer and his brothers, Calvin and C.L.
``There was all kinds of appliances, bedding, living room, bedroom - everything,'' said William Sawyer's daughter-in-law, Debbie Sawyer, who works at the store.
``It's a family business, that's for sure,'' Debbie Sawyer said. ``As bad as it was, I just thank the Lord that it didn't get the store itself.''
Fire officials wet down a propane tank across from the building's east side, while a crew worked from a ladder truck on the west end toextinguish the flames.
About 30 firefighters from Elizabeth City and the Providence volunteer station worked for half an hour to bring the blaze under control and at least an hour more to finish putting it out.
Officials remained at the scene until well into the evening.
Elizabeth City police barricaded several blocks of Chestnut Street, as well as Elizabeth and Beech streets on either side. Residents and passers-by looked on in clusters from parking lots and sidewalks.
Officials had not determined the cause of the fire, which one employee said ``started small and got big.''
Employees returning from a delivery apparently spotted smoke coming from the warehouse around 3:30 p.m. and rushed into the main store to call 911. Some store workers tried to put out the blaze with fire extinguishers, but it quickly grew beyond their control.
Fire officials were called at 3:37 p.m., Assistant Fire Chief Billy Pritchard said.
When they arrived on the scene, officials encountered ``moderate smoke'' coming from the loading door on the western end of the building, said Battalion Chief Carlton White.
White was told that someone was still in the building and launched a search and rescue effort until the person was accounted for, he said. The next concern was to contain the blaze, which erupted with new force when a door at the other end of the building was opened.
``The roof collapsed probably eight to 10 minutes after we arrived on scene,'' White said.
The cross-ventilation of both doors and the ``very heavy fire load'' of the building's contents caused the fire to spread rapidly, White said.
Officials managed to contain the fire, but radio reports frequently mentioned that there was low water pressure at the scene. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
SARAH MATHIS-WEEKS/
Firefighters worked for half an hour to control Tuesday's blaze at
the warehouse for Sawyer's House of Furniture in Elizabeth City. It
took at least another hour to finish putting it out.
by CNB