(September 4, 2008)—Killeen’s Action Pawn will be back in business on Monday in a warehouse behind the old store, less than a week after fire gutted the pawnshop at the intersection of South Fort Hood Street and Central Texas Expressway.
The Aug. 26 fire became a ragging inferno in a matter of minutes, most likely because of the number of electronics, tools and weapons inside the store.
Almost immediately after the store burned to the ground, company representatives went to work renovating the warehouse to serve as temporary location, as fire investigators continued to search for the cause of the fire.
The fire destroyed about 10,000 pawned items, but some of the more valuable merchandise in the store survived.
"We really got lucky,” said Action Pawn Operations Manager Mark Whiteford. “All the jewelry and 95 percent of the guns are fine."
Those valuables were in the store's safe, which was a huge relief because the jewelry, especially that of sentimental value, is next to impossible to replace.
The store is now focusing on customers who did lose valuables in the fire.
"If they had a 1994 projection TV, we're not going to buy a brand new plasma to replace it,” Whiteford said. “But we're going to be fare with them. We're going to get them like merchandise."
Three loads of items from other Action Pawn stores are en route to Killeen to help replace what was lost.
As for what sparked the fire, investigators are focusing on the southwest corner of the building.
"Right now they're looking for a more specific point of origin,” Killeen Fire Chief Jerry Gardner said. “And once they find that, they'll be able to look in the area and see what was there that could have possibly started the fire."
The intensity of the fire has hindered the investigation, but as of Thursday, no suspicious evidence has turned up.
Rebuilding the store is expected to take anywhere from six to nine months.
The company does ask for some patience in the upcoming weeks from customers who have lost items.
Representatives can be reached at the original store number, (254) 634-4488.
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