Fire Destroys Part Of Pontotoc County Furniture Plant

PONTOTOC COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – An early morning fire destroys part of a Pontotoc County upholstered furniture plant.

The call came in about 7 15 this morning, a fire at the American Furniture Plant. Moments later Pontotoc Fire Chief Lance Martin was on scene and knew more manpower would be needed.

“There was heavy flames showing on Northwest corner of the plant when we arrived and we tried to get in front of it and get it cut off as soon as we could,” Chief Martin said.

Everyone got out safely. The blaze made it through one fire wall, and into a second building. Workers at nearby businesses in the industrial area took whatever precautions they could, and watched as firefighters from surrounding towns and counties answered the call.

“We moved some equipment that was a little closer to the road to protect our property here, but we got to give thanks to the fire departments, volunteer guys, they are working hard over there, not getting paid a bit,” said Zack Rodgers, of R and R and Sons Construction.

The lack of an adequate water system was the main challenge fighting this fire. Tanker trucks from surrounding areas were brought in, they would get water from several locations in Pontotoc, bring the water back, dump it into makeshift ponds, and that was used to fight the blaze.

“Available water is something you always fight when you are out in rural firefighting, it will always be a problem in rural part of Mississippi. But want to be thankful, nobody is hurt, nobody injured now that I am aware of,” Chief Martin said.

Seven hundred people work at the plant. Company officials say some of those employees will be able to return to work early next week.

The state fire marshal’s office is investigating the cause of that blaze. This is the second major fire at American Furniture. The plant was heavily damaged by another blaze ten years ago.