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Show See Story on page 12 Volume 69 Price 50 Cents Wednesday, December 4, 1991 Number 49 Fire in Gunnison destroys Valiev Furniture business Thanksgiving Day 1991, will be a day many will remember as a major fire broke out in the Valley Furniture building and before it was over the store and almost all of its contents v ere destroyed. At approximately 6:00 p.m , November 28, Larry Jensen had returned to the Valley Furniture building to check the building. When he arrived he found smoke and proceeded to turn off the electrical connections and checked the furnace area in the back of the building. At about this time another business owner, Kim Pickett, looked out the front of his window of the Gunnison Implement building and saw smoke in the Valley Furniture building. He went across the street and found Larry inside. From there he called 9 1 1 and alerted the fire department of the possible fire. He and several others proceeded to start carrying things out of the building. Kim explained that it took very few trips before the building was so engulfed with flames it was hard to go back inside. It didnt take long before an explosion was heard and the effort to remove items from the store stopped and about this time the fire department had arrived. Efforts were made to control the blaze that w as now present in the walls and was moving through the structure. They had trucks spraying water in the back and in the front of the building. Also, trucks were called from Salina, Manti and Ephraim, to assist in cor j oiling the blaze. A slight breeze from the north kept the fiic.aen busy as they tried to contain the fire in the Valley Furniture building only. Jensen Drug was the main concern for most of the evening as flumes threatened that building also. o Trucks with lift buckets from Utah Pow cr and Light and Gunnison telephone Company were used to spray the rooi and they were able to keep the fire from spreading to the Jensen Drug building. As the firemen worked from the front and back of the burning building those in the back seemed to have the most trouble with extensive smoke. Before the night was over three firemen had been taken to the Gunnison Valley Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation and another for a ut in the head after a piece of flying glass hit him. Four others had a close call when the back hallway they were in as they What started out as a smoke filled room turned into a building full of flames tried to get closer to the flames in the coal room , tunneled a flame screen right before the night was over at Valley Furniture in Gunnison. The Thanksgiving over the top of them. It was later that these firemen went back into the hallway evening fire totally gutted Valley Furniture along with filling the NAPA Auto and realized they had been only inches from falling into the burning coal bin as the floor had been burned away but the smoke had been so thick they didnt Parts, Jensen Glass and the Utah State Liquor Agency with smoke. Firefighters it realize what they were walking into. out. five before for hours about blaze the getting fought It took several hours before the roof burned through and then finally collapsed as flames shot into the air and lit up the sky. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of water were used in controlling the heat and the blaze before it was finally contained late Thursday night. Hundreds of spectators witnessed the Thanksgiving Day blaze. Most voiced their concerns and fears of fire as they watched the blaze devour what has been a prominent Gunnison business for many years, leaving it in a pile life of burnt timbers and ashes. The Salina Ambulance was dispatched to an accidental shooting The evening and night proved to be trying for the two Jensen brothers who at250 North 100 East, in Redmond on Friday, November 29. When stayed home for the holidays, Brent and Larry. Larry later explained that it they arrived they found MacRae Squires, 42, of Salina, dead from was very emotional for him to stand across the street and watch the flames one gunshot wound to the head. bum their business to the ground. He explained that it brought back The body was taken to Springer Turner Funeral Home, Salina After repeated delays extending lights at each exit so that motorists flashbacks of memories as he watched realizing that there was very little he and then was taken to the Utah State Medical Examiners Office for over two years, interchanges on two can identify the off ramps easily at could do. further investigation. interstate highways in southern Utah night. Before the fire was established in the building Larry was able to retrieve will finally get lighting. It has been more than two years their computer and financial informauon for the business. Later on Friday Youth The $423,452 project was conwas since the final section of also able to retrieve the box with the layaway names and merchanwere they tracted to Hamilton Brothers Electric, completed west of Richfield, howdise. As they talked with Cotter and Company, one of their main suppliers, Applications are being taken for Salina City Youth Council for of Springville, and should be comever freeway lighting had not been Larry was told that all would be done to pull from warehouses across the YC Secretary and YC Reporter. Applicants must be between 8th and 12th graders and be from Salina. pleted by December 31. Other lights installed. country to accommodate Gunnison area shoppers for the merchandise that will be relocated. Contact Heather Willden, Wendy Sperry or Joe Johnson. AppliSterling Davis, District 3 Utah had already been put on layaway as well as stock their shelves for additional cations must be in by December 13, 1991. Lighting will be installed on Department of Transportation direcChristmas shopping. near Sigurd; the Sevier Junction; tor, says that a new type of pole has This time of the year is when their inventory is at its highest peak and Richfield; and the west ramp near been approved. I he new poles are Jensen explained that it will take some time to figure the cost of the fire as Toys For Tots Salina; Interchanges nearScipio, built so that drivers and passengers they have not even been invoiced on some of the inventory that had been in Iron county will get will be safer if a vehicle strikes one received. areas other and Toys For Tots campaign is now underway in the North Sevier of the poles. area. Sponsors this year are Utah Power and Light and Utah lighting. If anyone has a question about the status of their layaway they can call new 66 will new pole required months of be There The Bank. lights. Independent Valley Furniture for an update. There is a real concern that everyone be In Utah there are generally three testing, which added to the delay, Your donations of good used or new toys can make a wonderful Christmas for a child who might otherwise be overlooked. Toys can according to Davis. Continued on page 8 be taken to Utah Independent Bank until the December 20th deadline. If you know of anyone who needs help to make this Christmas a 1 merry one, or if you have any questions, call Nancy Frame, or Elinor White, a Q&d 3 r Devestating Fire Interchange to receive lights Around the Towns Accident takes City Council Applications Salina City Building on drawing board 529-759- 529-765- Lights On Turkey plants 8. at Zion's Bank have good year Its that time of year again. Lights on at Zions Bank will be December 10th. Students of Salina Elementary and Faith Baptists School will be making ornaments to decorate the tree in the bank lobby. Zions Bank will pay the schools 25 cents per ornament. All the employees invite you to attend this festive occasion and admire the handiwork of the students. Light refreshments will be served throughout the day. Food Commodity Program The Quarterly Distribution of the Federal Food Commodity program will be held Thursday, December 5, 1991 from 1 to 5 p.m. at Valley Community Church, 34 East 200 South, Richfield. The distribution is open to all Sevier County residents age 59 years or younger, in need. There will be only one allotment per household. Persons unable to pick up their commodities, may send a note with another person. The note must contain the following: name, address, city, family size and a request for their commodities to be picked up and their signature. We will accept only one note authorizing the pickup of commodities by another person. Income guidelines will be posted at the distribution site. If there are any questions regarding the commodity distribution please call Valley Community Church at 896-663- lid - 1. & If your Thanksgiving dinner included the traditional turkey, you are just one of those making the 71 million pounds of turkey production at Moronis Processing Plant possible, according to David Bailey, plant manager. Bailey said that the plants yearly production rate this year will be down slightly from last year, 71.5 million pounds this year, compared to 72 million pounds last year. He adds that they had 4.5 million poults this year, but some growers didnt order any for the upcoming spring, so he expects about 4.2 million next year. To develop further processing of the meat, turkey is dejboned at the Moroni plant and the raw material is shipped to the companys Salina plant, where it is made into turkey stead, turkey roast, ground turkey, turkey rolls, turkey sausage, smoked turkey, cooked and roasted turkey ham, etc. The turkey is then shipped to Pace stores and price clubs in Utah and California. Bailey said the last of the 1991 turkeys will be processed December 16 or 17th. Lynn Cook, Company Chairman of the Board said that the cost of feed has been lower the last few years which has helped growers. He added that one problem experienced by turkey growers as well as ranchers and cattlemen, is difficulty in getting bank financing. However, Cook said that we are poised and confident of the future of the turkey industry. We look forward to going with it into the twenty-fircentury. st i t I i The Salina City Council and Mayor are still discussing whether or not to build a new building or remodeling the present one with the CIB funds they were awarded several months ago. According to Mayor Nyals Andreason, the council and mayor know that construction can not start until spring so they are taking the time now to look at the prospects of building a new building as the original plans presented or to look at remodeling the present building. Gone back to engineering and architectural but not moving right not. The original application to the CIB board ties Salma to building a new building out back of the present city hall. If there is a change in this plan Andreason explained they would have to get approval from the CIB. We feel that we should take our time and not get in a hurry, said Andreason. The City did get another grant after applying for some heat energy assistance. This is a Federal program that pays money on a matching basis. According to Andreason the federal program will put in approximately $5,200 and the city will match this with $1,900 to put in new furnace and weatherize the present building. Andreason explained that they dont know whether these moneys can be matched with the money that will be received from the CIB grant or not but they will work in that direction. Andreason said that the council and he are still thinking of building out back but that this is the councils decision. When they are ready and they want to go ahead with the plans then we will get going, said Andreason. We decided to take a couple of steps backward and make sure what we do is right, he concluded. t ) |