JILL McCARTNEY
Courtesy Salisbury Post

 

Engineer Lewis Rogers on Engine 504

SPENCER, NC -- Firefighters from seven departments fought desperately - but unsuccessfully - Monday night to save Rowan County's second oldest continuously-operated business.

The fire struck Stoudemire Furniture Store, 310 S. Salisbury Ave., shortly before 7 p.m.

Officials believe the fire that destroyed the life's work of owners Tom and Peggy Gemayel was set intentionally. Spencer Police Capt. Chris Schenk said this morning that all "natural" causes had already been ruled out.

County Fire Marshal Arthur Delaney said Monday night that he was leaning toward a verdict of arson.

Delaney, the Spencer Police Department and the State Bureau of Investigation worked together this morning to figure out just what started the fire.

This morning, the Gemayels stood out front of the store surrounded by friends and fire personnel as officials continued investigating.

Gary Basinger and Debbie Barnhardt - who own Barnhardt Jewelers, the building adjacent to Stoudemire - also stood out front, thankful that their business was spared. Firefighters had to break through the front door at one point, and the roof may have sustained some damage.

"We thank God this morning," Debbie Barnhardt said. "We were truly blessed. The firefighters did a wonderful job."

Standing on Main Street Monday night, hundreds of people could hear the sound of firefighters' personal safety devices going off, signaling that firefighters had not moved from the same place in over a minute. These devices are used to detect when a firefighter is down, something that was at the top of many minds that evening.

At one point, Delaney and four other firefighters were in the building on the second floor when the roof caved in on them.

"We had a few moments where I thought we may have lost some people," Spencer Fire Chief Sam Morgan said. "But that's why we train."

When the roof caved in, commanders ordered everyone to retreat, and a head count showed no one missing. Delaney and Bob Parnell, battalion chief for training for the Salisbury Fire Department, re-entered the building to make sure no one was inside.

Firefighters on the ground and in two ladder trucks aimed water on flames shooting through the roof and second-floor windows.

Later, other firefighters re-entered the building.

Delaney described the firefighters' work as "a valiant effort."

Stoudemire Furniture first opened its doors on Main Street in Salisbury in 1883. It moved to the two-story brick building in Spencer in 1902.

In 1940, Jay Stoudemire, then owner, hired Peggy Fuller and Tom Gemayel to work in the store. Jay Stoudemire and Peggy Fuller would marry in 1947. Jay Stoudemire died in 1987, leaving the store to his wife. She and Tom Gemayel married in 1990.

The Gemayels watched as firefighters battled the fire for hours, with family and close friends offering comfort. Before his wife arrived, Tom Gemayel stood next to a firetruck right in front of the store with tears in his eyes.

Tom Gemayel said he left the store around 5:30 that evening, heading home for dinner. Just as he and his wife were finishing their meal, the phone rang. Someone was calling to say the store was on fire.

Shortly before 7 p.m., a man ran into Escape the Daily Grind, the coffee shop two buildings away from Stoudemire, saying the furniture store had caught fire. Hannah Clark, a coffee shop employee, called 911 and then walked out the shop's back door to look for herself.

"It had gone up so quick," Clark said, describing how the mattresses inside the rear warehouse were blazing. In a matter of minutes, firefighters were on the scene, Clark said, but the main building had already begun to burn.

Monday night, Gemayel said he had recently filled a one-story warehouse at the rear of the store with brand-new furniture that remained unpacked. The fire struck at a time that the store had more furniture than it ever had, he added.

Jacqui Watson, who owns the coffee shop, was on her way to a PTA meeting when she heard sirens and noticed activity ahead in downtown Spencer. She decided to "swing by and see what's going on," but she soon realized she had a personal stake in the fire. She parked her car and took up her post, watching the firefighters work.

Early in the evening, six firefighters moved the coffee shop's piano, fish tank, couch and other furniture to the corner opposite Stoudemire, preparing for the worst. As she watched along with others, Watson saw three of the second-story windows closest to her store blow out.

"That's when I started to panic," she said. Valentine's Day marked the coffee shop's one-year anniversary.

Debbie Barnhardt and Gary Basinger, in the jewelry store next to Stoudemire, were in their store when the fire alarm went off. Barnhardt first thought it was a fire drill, but when she walked towards the end of the block, she saw flames coming from the back of the building.

"The entire back was ablaze," Barnhardt said.

The fire wall between the two stores - coupled with firefighters' efforts - saved the store the couple has owned for 10 years. Monday night, firefighters allowed Barnhardt to go back into the store for about 20 minutes, just long enough to make sure all her papers and customers' jewelry was in the fireproof safes. She also got her fish.

Barnhardt said her heart goes out to the couple.

"The (Gemayels) are the nicest people you could ever meet. You couldn't ask for better neighbors," she said. Barnhardt said that she and Tom Gemayel planted flowers outside their stores together.

Barnhardt said she plans to re-open the store Wednesday.

Soon after the fire began, crowds started to gather. Some of the people who assembled behind the store, where the warehouse was engulfed in flames, attempted to step in and help the firefighters with the hose. Others were shouting directions at fire personnel as flames jumped from the warehouse to the main structure.

Smoke billowed from the windows, and flames illuminated the sky from the roof for hours. Firefighters seemed to have the blaze under control at one point, only to have flames burst out again. Firefighters had difficulty because the fire spread in a space between the second-floor ceiling and the roof.

Fire engines and police cars circled the block, steering cars away from the fire. Hundreds stood by helplessly as the store that had served as a community icon for more than a century burned.

Spencer Mayor Buddy Gettys stood among the spectators. He had just returned from a town board retreat near Winston-Salem.

Spencer Chief Morgan commended all the personnel that worked throughout the evening. Seven departments - Spencer, Salisbury, Ellis, Union, Millers Ferry, Franklin and Granite Quarry - as well as the Rescue Squad and Emergency Medical Services, responded to the fire. Firefighters battled all night to completely extinguish the blaze.

Despite their efforts, everything in the store was destroyed.

"What wasn't destroyed by fire was destroyed by water or smoke," Delaney said Monday at the scene. The fire never breached the fire wall.

The gasoline station on the other side of Stoudemire also escaped damaged. The store shut down its pumps shortly after the fire began and closed for the evening, re-opening at 7:30 this morning.

"I just hate it for the owners," Chief Morgan said Monday night as the fire came under control. "They had this business for a long time."