By Rebecca Maitland
ay 21, 2009, is a day many people in the community will remember, especially all
who watched in horror as Jim McIngvale
’s beloved store, which he calls The Greatest Furniture Store on Earth, burned.
“It had been a busy day, I was at the front counter, like I usually am. Around
8:30 that evening, I received a call on the interoffice line and someone said
there was a fire in the warehouse. I thought it was a bad joke,
” said Jim McIngvale, aka Mattress Mack, owner, Gallery Furniture.
Yet, he checked all the security monitors and did not see anything. Seconds
later though, he saw flames ripping 12 feet in the air and he dialed 9-1-1.
According to Michael Shrum, district chief, Houston Fire Department, “When the call came in and we saw the address, we knew it was Gallery Furniture.”
As the fire trucks were in route, Gallery employees were making sure everyone
was out, including the director of human resources who was caught in her
office. She opened the back door leading to the warehouse, saw the flames, shut
the door and tried to find her way out. Moments later, employees looking for
her were trying to get in the office
’s back door, but it wouldn’t open. They continued calling to her as they busted the door down and got her
to safety. Other employees were busy rescuing company pets as others were
fighting the blaze with water hoses and hand held fire extinguishers.
“Everyone got out safely. I am very thankful for all the employees for what they
did, and very thankful no one was hurt,
” Mack said.
The first fire trucks arrived within four minutes of receiving the call and,
moments later, more than 260 firemen were fighting the flames that were
shooting hundreds of feet in the air as $20-$25 million in inventory burned.
The monumental flames were so immense they were being picked up by weather
radars signaling massive heat, as they lit up the dark sky.
Before long, the parking lot of the store was filled with ambulances, medics,
fire department shift supervisors, emergency medical teams, the fire chief,
assistant chiefs and a host of other fire and emergency staff, and an
assortment of fire trucks and equipment, all of which is standard procedure for
a fire of this size and magnitude.
In the meantime, Mack’s wife, Linda, and their two daughters were having dinner in Pearland. Mack
called and told them the warehouse was on fire and it wasn
’t long before they were by his side, and like Mack, they were shaken, in shock
and watched in horror as the fire burned.
Bill White, Houston’s mayor, arrived shortly after the fire began.
“Anytime you see a blaze like this one burning, see this much destruction, it
does shake you up, and the mayor, like the others watching, were noticeably
shook-up and in disbelief as they watched the flames,
” said Shrum. “As I stood with him, he mentioned a couple of times how much Mack has done for
the community. People were just shaking their heads; I mean, what do you say
when you see someone, anyone, lose that much?
”
Firefighters continued fighting the blaze, but realized they could not save any
portion of the 60,000-square-foot warehouse. So the decision was made to make a
stand for the store; they told Mack, who simply nodded.
The firemen rushed into the showroom, found the wall between the warehouse and
store and began stretching defense lines, and together they stood waiting. If
the fire began to break through, they would stop it there.
“That fire was not going past that wall, we were there, making our stand, and we
were going to protect the store, the showroom,
” Shrum said.
According to Shrum, the fire fighters gave all they had to save the property and
were successful to the extent the fire did not reach the store.
