A fire that broke out in Stroud on Main Street Monday night destroyed an antique store but firefighters were able to contain the fire to that building.
Stroud Fire Chief Chris Wilson said the call came in at 8:35 p.m. Wilson noted, “We had heavy smoke as we arrived. The south wind was pushing the fire through the structure to the north.”
Wilson said the store housed Horn’s Antiques at 414 W. Main in Stroud for many years but it had not been operational for some time. He estimated it might have been as long as 20 years since it had been in operation.
He said though not operational, it was full of antiques.
“We took everything we had to fight it,” the chief said. “We had help from Milfay, Kendrick, Davenport, Chandler and Cushing Fire Departments. We had three ladder trucks on scene at one time.”
Wilson said there were no injuries to any of the firefighters.
“There were no problems with water,” Wilson stated, “But we took our water towers in this area to a critically low point,” he added.
Wilson mentioned he contacted the owners of the building, the Horns, who now live in Tulsa and they came down Monday night. “They obviously were upset by the loss of their building.”
Though the former antique shop was destroyed, Wilson said the fire damage was contained to that structure. “There was a little bit of water damage to another building,” he said.
“Unfortunately, we lost one of our old buildings. It was a two-story building and probably 30 feet tall,” the chief thinks.
Wilson pointed out the building may have been one of the original ones on Main Street.
“The help we had was phenomenal,” Wilson believes. “At one point we had 40 firefighters on scene. Probably 15 of those were from Stroud,” he said.
Firefighters finally left the scene around 4:45 a.m. Tuesday. “We believed it was contained enough to leave,” Wilson continued.
He stressed that, “At this time we do not know how the fire started. It’s of unknown origin. But no one had seen or indicated anything suspicious,” the chief said.
“The assisting agencies did a really good job. We’re thankful to have the help we had,” he related.