The building that housed Farmer’s Furniture stood 110 years on South Oak in Sallisaw. But the back room fire spread quickly, the building burst into flames, and three hours later the only thing left were the buildings outer walls.
James Virgil Farmer and his family have owned the building since 1978. Two adjoining buildings on the north side suffered water, heat, and smoke damage, including Padgett’s barber shop, which was in that location for nine years and in business for a total of 50 years, and an art gallery that recently opened.
Dewayne Burgess, an employee at Farmer’s Furniture and a Sallisaw firefighter, said he went in the back door of Farmer’s at about 2:30 p.m. to get ready for a furniture delivery and saw smoke.
“James Virgil was sitting there watching TV and I asked him where all the smoke was coming from. He said, ‘What?’ I said where did all the smoke come from and told him we needed to get out of the building. By the time I ran home and got a truck and came back the windows were already blown out. It was just that quick, Burgess said.
Toxic smoke quickly filled the sky and surrounded the downtown area. Sallisaw Fire Chief Anthony Armstrong said the smoke from the fire was toxic and officials feared the smoke would have asbestos in it.
Sallisaw police constantly asked observers to move back. Sallisaw Police Chief Shaloa Edwards, said officers cordoned off a four-block area in downtown Sallisaw after smoke started pouring out of the building to ensure the safety of the onlookers who lined the streets near Farmer’s.
Edwards said the building was a part of Sallisaw history.
“It’s a shame to see the community lose another piece of Sallisaw history,” Edwards said.
Edwards said he purchased his first piece of furniture from Farmer’s 29 years ago.
Almost every fire department in Sequoyah County was called to battle the blaze. Sallisaw Fire Department called for ladder-truck assistance from Poteau and Fort Smith at about 6 p.m.
“They have the capabilities to get above the fire, and produce about 1,500 gallons of water per minute,” Captain Jarrett Hetherington with the Sallisaw Fire Department said.
“We are so glad and thankful that we have so many great fire departments and firefighters that are able to assist,” Hetherington said.
Armstrong said he suspected the cause of the fire was electrical.
“The cause has not been officially determined yet but we do suspect it was electrical,” Armstrong said Wednesday morning.
Farmer said the business was doing well despite the economic downfall. He said sales were down a little but the store was doing well.
“The only thing we are losing is the merchandise in the store. Everyone got out all right and that is the most important,” Farmer said. The building was insured, he said.
Armstrong said the two buildings adjoining Farmer’s Furniture had excessive heat and water damage. Padgett’s Barber Shop and the building next to it, The Art Gallery, suffered water, heat, and smoke damage.
As the fire grew firefighters dealt with obstacles from surrounding gas and electrical lines. City crews cut off the power to the building. Power to light signals at Cherokee and Wheeler also failed and Sallisaw police had to direct traffic for awhile.
Officials reported that no one in the store was injured but one Central firefighter battling the blaze suffered from heat exhaustion.
Joe Blair, Central Firefighter who also works for the City of Sallisaw, said Central Firefighter Wyatt Vinson over heated and suffered from heat exhaustion.
“He’s OK. He just got way too hot,” Central firefighter Bobby Shumate said. He said he hated to see the old building go.
Gloria Burgess of Sallisaw is the wife of a Sallisaw firefighter Dwayne Burgess.
She said about her husband’s job, “This is extremely stressful. Firefighters have families at home that worry about them but I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. Dewayne loves fighting fires and I back him 100 percent. I’m just glad we have so many great firefighters.”
She said Dewayne, who worked at Farmer’s, is determined to get the job finished and he won’t quit until he’s riding in the back of the ambulance with heat exhaustion.
She said, “He would still be saying, ‘I got to do it, I got to do it, I got to get it done.’”
Gloria explained that the day she and Dewayne got married is the day he started with the Sallisaw Fire Department.
Sallisaw firefighter Steve Padgett, who is also the son of Dewey Padgett, the owner of Padgett’s Barber Shop, said his dad’s shop was heavily damaged by water and heat.
Padgett explained that the fire jumped the wall that joined Farmer’s and the fire burned the opposite wall that was connected to The Art Gallery. He didn’t know how the fire managed to do that, but suspects it jumped the ceiling.
“At least they saved the barber chairs and the barber poles,” Padgett said.
Wednesday morning Will Davis with the Sallisaw Fire Department said the south wall, back wall and part of the north wall were torn down so the firefighters could reach smoldering hot spots.
Armstrong said the walls were unsafe and the surrounding streets would not be reopened until the walls were knocked down.
Onlooker Bob Walden of Sallisaw talked about the loss of Farmer’s and expressed his regret that it was gone.
“My whole house is Farmer’s Furniture. They were really good to work with people and to help people get the items they needed or wanted. I used to stop in just to visit. The furniture store is going to be missed,” Walden said.
Armstrong said around 3 a.m. Wednesday morning there were five firefighters who stayed to watch the furniture store through the night. He said around 30 minutes later the Sallisaw Fire Department received a call about a fire at 301 S. Washington St. He said the firemen had to suit back up and go back out.
“The fire was under control in 15 minutes and no one was injured,” Armstrong said.
