EASTANOLLEE – Officials at 2-Day Designs in Stephens County said the furniture manufacturing facility will be back in business after recovering from Wednesday morning’s fire.
Standing in the road in front of the facility, Controller Melisa Dean recalled what happened when she was in the building shortly before 8 a.m. Wednesday.
“We got up and ran out and there was smoke coming out everywhere,” Dean said. “We did a head count to make sure everybody was here. Then we had each department sit together and double check.”
Kay Stowe, who is over shipping for 2-Day Designs, said the normal workforce at the Eastanollee facility is about 30, but at the time of the fire there were about 25 people working.
“We have not seen it,” Stowe said of the damage to the building.
Asked what impact the fire at the Stephens County manufacturing plant will have on production, Stowe said, “It’s a little early so we’re not really sure yet.”
Dean said, “It’ll slow it down a little bit, but we’ll pick right back up.”
The company does works with some outside shops to produce its products.
Asked what will happen to employees’ jobs following Wednesday’s fire, Dean said, “We’re going to do unemployment until we get it back up and going but the owners have already got a game plan going.”
Eastanollee Fire Chief Jamey Gettys said the fire at 2-Day Design on Ridgeland Road was reported shortly before 8 a.m. and drew response from across Stephens County.
“When we arrived here, we had heavy smoke coming out from all sides of the building,” Gettys said. “Heavy fire was reported in the back by the employees. Apparently, a stain booth or something like that had caught on fire.”
About four dozen firefighters from throughout Stephens County and Toccoa entered the furniture manufacturing building to bring the fire under control.
“When we got here, I’d say about half the building was on fire, maybe three-quarters,” Gettys said. “We did save all of the office area. No damage was there other than smoke. The manufacturing area took a lot of heavy fire damage and it will probably have to be rebuilt.”
Gettys said he is pleased that firefighters were able to save part of the building.
“Considering the fire load that we had, I think we did an excellent job with the teamwork of the folks that we had here,” Gettys said. “We were able to stop the fire from progressing into this office area and made a good save there.”
There were no fire-related injuries to either employees or firefighters, though one responder experienced a medical condition on scene.
“We did have one firefighter that we had to transport to Athens,” Gettys said. “He’s currently there being checked out by medical staff.”
Company officials said about 30 employees will be temporarily displaced but have been assured by the owners they will be returning once operations are restored.
Gettys said having departments from across the county respond played a part in saving the office portion of the structure. That included volunteers from Eastanollee, Carnes Creek, Martin, New Hope as well as a ladder truck, fire engine, and personnel from the City of Toccoa Fire Department.
“We all worked together to go and attack this thing from every side,” Gettys said. “We made entry into the building with large fire hoses and were able to attack the fire and knock it down.”
http://accesswdun.com/article/2021/3/984279/stephens-county-manufacturing-plant-fire-temporarily-displaces-about-30