"Millions" Lost in Walla Walla Martin Archery Fire
Posted: Jul 09, 2015 9:22 PM EDTUpdated: Jul 09, 2015 9:22 PM EDT
Posted by Chris Luther, Reporter
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WALLA WALLA, WA. -- A huge fire in Walla Walla overnight is the talk of the town Thursday after a longstanding business in the area is destroyed.
Everywhere you look there's twisted metal. Flames turned this once busy manufacturing building at Martin Archery into a metallic wasteland.
"I was in every part of this building at one in point in time," Ken Melhus said. "There was a huge track that went around the inside here of a conveyer belt that went around the entire ceiling."
At least that's what Ken Melhus saw working IT for:
"21 years," he told us. "So I basically worked here in this building every day"
Now he can't even recognize his office.
"It's like being in a different place," Melhus said. "It's so odd. It hurts my heart. It's just like something is gone. It was part of your life for such a long time it's so strange. It's like a family member almost, you know?"
Firefighters are still on hand Thursday afternoon making sure the fire doesn't come back to life. Last night, it looked more like a torch than a building. Yet firefighters were able to contain the flames. Still what was lost wasn't cheap.
"Millions I would guess," Melhus told us.
This fire would be devastating no matter where it happened but in the small Walla Walla community, it has even more impact.
"Martin Archery has been around for a long, long time in this area," Walla Walla Fire District 4 Chief Rocky Eastman said. "I don't know the exact number of years but it's been around a long time. It's a very prominent business in our community."
"It's known around the world as probably the best bows you can buy," longtime customer Dennis Gleason said.
"Yeah, you talk to anybody in town they know somebody who's worked here, or worked here (themselves)," Melhus said.
But there's always this:
"Hopefully they can recover, get it back in place and get it running again," Melhus told us.
Firefighters still remain on scene Thursday afternoon here putting out hotspots and they say they don't know exactly what caused the fire, but it is under investigation.
