Total Devastation

On my way from Treasure Island to Bremerton this morning, the Seattle radio stations were reporting that Arnold’s Broyhill Home Furnishings had been destroyed in a fire. Thus, I had a clue about what to expect and knew, for example, to avoid the stretch of Kitsap Way between National Avenue and 11th Street. Later in the morning I rode my bike there to check out the fire site. Nothing I had heard prepared me for a loss of that magnitude.

I’m bummed. Arnold’s was by far the nicest store in blue-collar Bremerton. Family-owned, it was a landmark and a community asset, drawing shoppers from all over the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas. I hope I’m wrong in using “was” and they can rebuild soon.

I don’t know how the fire started and why it spread so quickly. Nor did I realize how big the complex was although I have been inside dozens of time. One spectator told me sprinklers saved the Broyhill showroom, the newest part of the store. If so, the sprinklers must have been defective or sparsely spaced in the older Arnold’s showroom and warehouse, as the walls and roof there are completely gone. The 60,000-square-foot complex looks even larger without the walls, especially when viewing its east side from the McDonald’s parking lot.

I bought a mattress at Arnold’s this spring. Years ago K worked with a designer from Arnold’s in a makeover of the living room in my old house. Arnold’s is at the main intersection I pass through daily when leaving Rocky Point. I still need a lot of furniture and I had planned on getting it there or at least comparison shopping. Friends will roll their eyes at this, but it’s true. The worst part? The front of the building was completely redone in a pleasing facelift when Arnold’s merged with Broyhill a few years back. This was after La-Z-Boy moved out. Now they have to start over.

About a half-dozen engine and ladder trucks were fighting the fire, including a ladder that extended to about 60 feet. From there a firehose stream of water was directed on the hot spots. What surprised me most was the size of the rest of the response. I counted 17 additional engines and ladders in reserve parked on Kitsap Way between the R&H Market and the new Walgrens. Fire departments from all parts of Kitsap County responded plus units from across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Pierce County. I asked one firefighter why so many reserve units were there. He explained that what they need is the firefighters who ride on the reserve units to the fire, not necessarily the actual equipment. It’s not like they vanpool to work. The large force will be working in shifts as there’s a lot of mop up needed and temperatures are expected in the 90’s later today.

In one of those small-world moments, one guy I talked to at the fire had applied for a video-production job at the company I worked for when I first moved to Kitsap County in the 1970’s. It’s amazing how stuff like that surfaces in conversation no matter what the setting or situation.