The Shade Tree Fire of May 1998 - We Lost Most Everything.

The Shade Tree Fire of May 1998

MAY 29, 1998… a hot, sticky Friday evening. The 230-foot long, two-story warehouse that produced the Shade Tree Cowboys, the Series of Evolution Wildlife Sculptures as well as several other products had been empty since 4:00PM. In fact, the production crew was off on Fridays as we were working four, ten-hour days a week, Monday - Thursday.

Bill Vernon, artist & C.E.O., was at home with his family when at 7:30 PM, the phone rang. A neighbor called in a panic to inform us that our business was on fire. They saw the fire explode inside as they were sitting on their front porch which overlooked the factory enjoying the evening. By the time we finished the 6-mile drive to the factory the entire building was engulfed in huge flames. Several 55-gallon drums of poly-resin and various other materials used in production were exploding and being launched hundreds of feet in the air. The thick, black smoke could be seen over 30 miles away. Horrified, we watched helplessly as our 25-year-old company was completely destroyed – molds and all. 

The event turned out to be the largest fire in the history of Franklin, NC. Per the first responders, fifteen local fire departments applied over 60,000 gallons of water to the blaze, which burned off and on for nearly three days.  A few days later, seventeen fire investigators came to the conclusion that the blaze was electrical in nature and originated in the employee common area. The Fire Marshal said that no foul play was suspected.  The fire burned at temperatures in excess of 1,800 F. To give you some idea, a “hot” fire in a fireplace burns at 500 – 800 F degrees!

Naturally, we were devasted not to mention way under insured. We were now left with some serious decisions to make. The final result was to rebuild but do so on a substantially smaller scale in a new but smaller factory. In the past we employed as many as 90 people in our factory and frankly, we looked forward to getting back to a much simpler and a more hands-on life. Tough times to be sure!