Two Wichita Falls firefighters are recovering from injuries sustained while fighting an early morning blaze Sunday at Ashley Furniture on Kell Boulevard.
Assistant Fire Marshal Antoinette Hastings said two of the 34 firefighters from the Wichita Falls Fire Department and Sheppard Air Force Base Fire Department who responded to the fire sustained unknown injuries. She said, however, that they are not hospitalized.
The call came in at about 6:20 a.m. Sunday of a three-alarm structure fire at the furniture store. Hastings said 14 fire units responded, and it took about an hour for firefighters to get the blaze under control. The building sustained visible fire damage to the front and roof of the structure, she said, and there is water damage to the interior of the store.
Damage was estimated at $300,000, Hastings said, and the incident is still under investigation.
This is the second fire the store has had in a little more than three years. The Wichita Falls Fire Department responded to the store in December 2012 for a report of a structure fire. Times Record News reports at that time indicate that most of the damage then was from water when the fire suppressant system activated.
The Wichita Falls store was involved with a bit of a controversy in December 2010 when the store unexpectedly closed, leaving consumers who were waiting for their orders in limbo. Reports indicate a partner in the venture was found in his pickup in San Angelo with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head the day after news of the store’s closing was announced.
A March 2011 Times Record News article said the Wichita Falls store was under new ownership. Richard and Aggie Choi had been in the retail furniture business for more than 20 years with Ashley Furniture as well as Choice Furniture.
