Lanham Furniture Still In Business After Fire, Owner Plans to Rebuild

Thursday, December 23rd 1999, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Fire doesn't stop business at Lanham Furniture. The Broken Arrow store burned Tuesday, but the owner plans to stay open and ready to do business. He says the store will fill orders placed for Christmas delivery.

Wynn Lanham wasn't able to talk about the fire until Tuesday. He was too emotional about his business going up in flames. â€œ I'll definitely rebuild, it's just a matter of time,â€ he said.

The fire destroyed his main street business in Broken Arrow. It started during the noon hour and quickly grew, destroying Lanhamâ€™s main showroom. He's just thankful no one was hurt. "I was standing in the center of the part that was burned,â€ he remembered. â€œI heard a pop and I saw flames coming from the back door. I grabbed a fire extinguisher and told my daughter to call the fire department.â€

But the Broken Arrow Fire Department couldnâ€™t save the showroom. It was too late to stop the blaze. The fire destroyed the building and all of its contents. But it takes more than a fire to put Lanham out of business. He moved his main store across the street to his recliner annex. Starting with the stock of recliners he has left, Lanham says he can satisfy customers whose Christmas layaways were lost in the fire. â€œThey can just bring in a receipt,â€ he explained. â€œBecause we have no idea what might have been sold. Thereâ€™s a good possibility a lot of it is in our warehouse.â€

The fire marshal has determined the fire started in a back storage room filled with mattresses. Fire investigators continue to search for the cause. Lanham spent Tuesday with insurance adjusters and a few customers who realized he's still in business. Lanham says the fire destroyed about half of his inventory. He hopes to reopen his furniture store in a couple of months in the same location, but in the meantime, will sell the recliners that have become his advertising trademark.