Published: March 25, 2009 11:07 am      

Historic building devastated

Major blaze strikes downtown

A call of a structure fire was quickly followed by billowing black smoke and firefighters frantically working to slow down a devastating blaze striking downtown Pauls Valley early Tuesday afternoon.

A large crowd of onlookers gathered as a major fire spread into a historic building with a handful of shops in the 100 block of South Chickasaw.

Although no injuries were reported, the list of victims included the longtime local Honest Bus Pawn Shop, described as the oldest still in operation in the state, and a driving school.

Early indications are a jewelry store located in the middle of the L-shape building was spared from the worst of the damage caused by a blaze that kept firefighters from four local and area departments busy for hours.

The cause of the fire remains a mystery for now as Pauls Valley firefighters believe it started somewhere in the upper levels of the pawn shop.

“The cause is still being investigated,” PV firefighter Brian Black said.

“We believe it did start above the pawn shop. If we can get in safely we’re going to check that out. It’s still smoldering, but the fire’s out,” he said nearly three hours after the fire broke out.

In fact, Black said it took nearly two hours for firefighters to contain the fire as flames were shooting out of shop windows.

When it was done there was complete devastation inside the pawn shop as the second floor had collapsed down to the ground level.

Plenty of damage was also reported to the shop occupied by the Precision Driving School, while a jewelry store located in between is believed to have suffered only smoke and water damage.

Fire departments working to contain the fire included Pauls Valley, Wynnewood, Stratford and Purcell, Black added.

While watching the devastating scene one of the few bright spots and reasons to smile for pawn shop owner Joan Hunter came when firefighters were able to salvage a sign from the window of a business open here in Pauls Valley for 54 years.

The rest of the news was anything but bright for Hunter.

“It’s very sad because the community depended on us for 54 years,” she said while standing among the many onlookers.

“It was a family owned business started by my parents. We were called the poor man’s bank.”

The pawn shop was housed in a building constructed in 1898 that once served as a Chickasaw saddle shop, she said.

The shop included an area covering about 7,000 square feet plus an upstairs that was used mostly as storage, Hunter said.

Early on her mother operated a dress shop in the back, while her father, Buster, tinkered with air conditioning systems in the front.

That started to change when someone asked Buster for a $5 loan. He agreed as long as the man left his watch for collateral.

“People found out he loaned out money and that started the Honest Bus Pawn Shop,” Hunter said.

“It grew so fast they just closed up the dress shop.”

According to Hunter, the business had the number two license in the state for pawn shops. With the first one no longer around, the local pawn shop had been the oldest still in operation, she said.