Local News
Simpson trying to take fire in stride
Passages to Adventure owner Benjy Simpson appeared Monday to be taking Sunday’s fiery tragedy in stride.
“You get knocked down. You either stay down or get back up,” said Simpson, who described the inferno that destroyed his Fayetteville whitewater rafting office as “a major curve ball.”
Firefighters from seven fire departments responded to the early Sunday morning blaze that gutted Simpson’s 9,000-square-foot post and beam building. The structure had been at its present location since 1991, Simpson explained.
Word travels fast, especially across the World Wide Web. “It’s all on the Internet. I’ve already had calls from Canada,” Simpson said.
The fire has not dampened his outlook on life or business. Simpson wanted to reassure anyone with reservations for rafting trips that they are still valid. “We had a river trip for (Sunday), and we went ahead and ran it,” he noted.
Simpson still plans to participate in the upcoming Gauley rafting season, rock-climbing, and Bridge Day’s rappelling and high-line activities.
Simpson’s rafts were fortunately located in a separate maintenance building. Most of what was lost Sunday included office furniture, computers, climbing equipment and — perhaps most painful of all — tangible memories.
“Obviously, I had a lot of personal things. You lose part of your memories. That’s the rough part. It’s a great loss. I’m saddened. It’s a part of life. We’re trying to go forward,” he said.
Along with neighbors and fellow whitewater rafting outfitters who have come to his aid with offers of a “multitude of services,” Simpson wanted to express his gratitude to the firefighters who struggled for five hours to save his office.
“They all tried to help get water to it to help put the fire out. When it went up, it went up and went up fast. It had 30-foot ceilings. They had an impossible task, but they did all that they could. They were constantly under the stress of the job they do,” he observed.
The phone company plans to begin working on the phone line to Passages to Adventure Thursday, and Simpson hopes to have phone service restored by Friday.
Until then, the phone company has a situation set up whereby phone calls to 304-574-1037 or 1-800-634-3785 are patched through to Simpson’s cell phone.
Simpson spoke highly of the “working bond” that exists among the whitewater rafting community. “The rafting community tends to all come together,” he said, when such disasters strike.
A state fire marshal was on the scene Sunday, and Simpson expected to meet with him again either Monday afternoon or Tuesday. The marshal’s office will then issue a report on the cause of the blaze. Simpson’s insurance company will also conduct a separate investigation.
As for rebuilding, it won’t happen this year, he said. However, Simpson plans to have a new office building somewhere on his 20-acre lot next year. “We’re still here. We’re not going away,” he declared.
According to Meredith Buskus, public information officer for the Fayetteville Fire Department, between 60 and 70 firefighters from seven fire departments battled the blaze for five hours Sunday morning. Fayetteville firefighters returned to the scene two hours after that to extinguish a temporary rekindling.
The fire was reported at 12:18 a.m. “When the first Fayetteville unit arrived on the scene, flames were already through the roof and contained half the building,” Buskus explained.
Firefighters from Ansted, Bradley-Prosperity, Gauley Bridge, Mount Hope, Nuttall and Oak Hill assisted the Fayetteville Fire Department in fighting the fire, while Fayetteville police officers and Fayette County sheriff’s deputies helped with traffic control, said Buskus.
— E-mail: mhill@register-herald.com
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