The owners of a lumber supply company that burned last week in Cleveland hope to have the business fully operational within 18 months.
Fire destroyed three buildings at Hardwoods Incorporated of North Georgia on Oct. 22. Atlanta Hardwood Corporation owns the business. Company President Hal Mitchell told WRWH News their first step is to take care of their 85 employees in Cleveland and work from there.
The fire destroyed the business’ showroom, management offices, and the finishing and planing building.
Cleveland City Administrator Tom O’Bryant said much of the facility was not impacted. “As large as it was, the fire crews did a great job getting the fire under control and keeping it contained to those buildings.”
The estimated amount of damage is unknown at this time.
A lot of lumber was destroyed, but a lot more escaped the blaze, and Mitchell said they will continue to operate the lumber yard. The business ships hardwood lumber throughout the world, and lead time to replace the specialized equipment they used will take some time. Mitchell said they are looking at a three-step plan and hope to have the business back to where it was before the fire within a year-and-a-half.
