THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 25, 1995 TAG: 9505250529
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Rock Hudson watched from the cover of a 40-year-old Life magazine Wednesday as customers, neighbors and other dealers cleaned up after a fire at a string of antiques and used-goods stores on Granby Street.
The magazine, featuring Hudson as ``Hollywood's Most Handsome Bachelor'' of 1955, sat on a rack outside the shops as the volunteers swept and scrubbed after the Tuesday fire, which mainly caused smoke and water damage.
``A lot of customers who shop here have been stopping by to make sure we're OK,'' said George Shields of G.W. Shields Antiques. ``Everybody's pitched in. That makes us feel good.''
And the patrons continued to shop despite the damage.
``I was just walking by on my way home from my job and I thought it was a sidewalk sale,'' said Craigie Gordon of Norfolk.
Gordon did not know about the fire until she encountered the odor it left behind. That didn't stop her from shopping. She was looking for bird cages and electric fans.
The fire, reported about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, damaged five stores in the 2600 block of Granby St. Firefighters brought the blaze under control in about 30 minutes.
Fire officials said they traced the probable cause to an electrical problem in the rear of Decades Art and Antiques. Though other businesses are located in the building, the stores affected - in addition to Decades - were Harper's, Boobala's, Aaron's Attic, and Carriage House Antiques. There was no damage estimate Wednesday.
``This brought out the God in people,'' said Jim Whalen of Decades, which shares space with Harper's and was the most heavily damaged. ``There's been a lot of antique dealers here. You learn who your friends are.''
Sunny skies and warm air helped dry dozens of wet and scorched items. Inside Carriage House Antiques, which suffered extensive water damage, owner Joan Cowan said residents in a boarding house across the street turned in the alarm. Today they helped clean the mess.
``They've been super,'' she said of the volunteers, some of whom brought food for the workers and shop owners. ``They've been killing us with kindness.''
Jack Cline, an antiques dealer from Virginia Beach, knows the staff at Carriage House and spent the afternoon mopping and scrubbing.
``There's been a lot of offers of help,'' he said. ``People are pretty sympathetic.
``With antique dealers, when something happens to one person we all feel it,'' Cowan said. ``It's like a club.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by BILL TIERNAN/
Jim Whalen of Decades Art and Antiques spent much of Tuesday night
and all of Wednesday cleaning out his shop.
KEYWORDS: FIRE by CNB