Responders quickly snuff downtown Ardmore fire

Published 4:35 pm Friday, July 16, 2021

“It could have been a lot worse.”

That’s what Ardmore Fire Chief Tim Toone said after a Friday morning fire at Hidden Treasures Thrift Store was caught early and quickly brought under control by responding firefighters.

The store is located at 30476 Ardmore Ave. near many other downtown businesses and just across the street from Ardmore Town Hall.

Toone said the fire is believed to have been sparked by a malfunctioning box fan. He said it took just one minute from the fire’s discovery until a first responder was on scene and around 10 minutes from the time of the call until the blaze was under control.

Toone said Ardmore Fire and Rescue responded with aid from Elkton, Elkmont and Oak Grove.

“Any time we have a fire, we automatically ask for aid,” he said.

Toone said he estimates the business owner lost a third of the building’s contents but still has “a lot that can be cleaned.”

Spotting the blaze

Ronny Cornelison owns the building containing multiple businesses that sits just down from the thrift store. He said he noticed a lady who was window shopping take notice of something going on in the thrift store.

“I was standing on the sidewalk, and I noticed she kept looking in there,” he said. “She said, ‘I think there’s a fire in this building.’ So, I ran down there, and it was (on fire).”

Cornelison said he saw a fire under a table near the front window. Toone confirmed the fire was contained to an area around a table.

He said he called 911 and retrieved a fire extinguisher and hammer with the intent to break out the glass and try to put out the blaze, but by the time he returned, “the windows were black and hot.”

Responders said it would be better to leave the window intact to try and help snuff the fire out. Cornelison said the business was locked and no one was inside at the time of the blaze.

“Luckily, they got it put out,” he said.

Cheyenne Barnett, who owns Gypsy Jewel’s Salon next door to Hidden Treasures, said her business had some smoke filter in but believed there was no actual damage. She said she too heard a lady say there was a fire and dialed 911.

Toone said the thrift store and salon were built after the the building owned by Cornelison, so there are a few walls in between the two sections, which may have helped slow the blaze and prevented it being any worse.