THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 30, 1997 TAG: 9701300418
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY IDA KAY JORDAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: 42 lines
A pre-dawn fire Wednesday destroyed the offices and shops of Elfinsmith's Ltd., a Portsmouth company that specializes in metal plaques and designer trophies.
W.H. ``Bill'' Bailey, 49, founder and principal partner in the business, said he arrived at work at the metal building in Port Norfolk about 5:30 a.m. to ``see 20 years of my life going up in flames.''
``The big thing we lost was all our hand-carved patterns for brass plaques and other products,'' he said.
The company has created the original designs for Virginia Beach's Neptune Festival trophies for 18 years, he said.
``We do a lot of special work that is cast in pewter and in bronze,'' he said.
Bailey said that in addition to the original patterns, the company also lost all of its computerized equipment and all its supplies. He said he will try to save some pieces of heavy equipment.
``We will try to rebuild out of the ashes, but it will be a hard thing to do,'' he said. ``I cried all morning.''
The company, which employs six people, has sales of about $250,000 annually.
Bailey said the fire apparently started about 4:45 a.m. in the rear of the building and spread rapidly. It burned into the afternoon. The cause had not been determined late Wednesday.
The company has been headquartered in the 600 block of Virginia Avenue since 1985, when the Virginia Port Authority took its first location at Wesley and Lee streets. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARK MITCHELL/The Virginian-Pilot
A fire Wednesday destroyed the offices and shops of Elfinsmith's
Ltd. in Portsmouth. W.H. ``Bill'' Bailey, principal partner, said
the fire started in the rear of the building.
KEYWORDS: FIRE