The local Goodwill caught fire and suffered complete loss on Friday, March 22.
At 4:30 a.m. the store caught fire, and by the time the fire fighters arrived, it was already too late. According to KARK 4 News, the Searcy Fire Department spent more than five hours trying to put the fire out. By the time the fire died, the store was obliterated along with everything inside.
No employees were inside the store at the time. The cause of the fire remains unknown.
“Goodwill Industries of Arkansas had a fire this morning at our Searcy location,” the Goodwill Industries of Arkansas said on its Facebook page shortly after the fire. “We are thankful no one was injured. We love Searcy and are committed to the community and our employees. Goodwill Searcy will be reopening soon.”
Since the fire, Brian Itzkowitz, the president and CEO of the Goodwill Industries of Arkansas, said he has been working on a plan of action to recover from the devastation. Since the store destroyed was the only Goodwill store located in Searcy, they worked quickly to build a new, temporary store to operate until they could establish a more permanent location. The new store was opened to the public on Thursday at its temporary location at 2009 E. Race Ave.
“Our focus now is to keep our employees working and our quality, value-priced merchandise available to our customers,” Itzkowitz said in a FOX16 article.
Itzkowitz has been at Goodwill since 2008 and has opened 17 new Goodwill locations since 2009.
“Donations are what brings Goodwill’s mission to life; that’s why we say ‘Donate, Shop, Change a Life,'” Itzkowitz told FOX16.
The Searcy Fire Department is currently investigating the fire to be sure there are no signs of arson.
“If anything leads to something we need to investigate, we’ll go from there,” Jennifer Denney, a spokesperson for the Searcy Fire Department, said in an Arkansas Online article.
According to KTBS news, the authorities claim that the fire began at the back of the store and spread to the roof. The investigation is still under way.
