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| Rain falls on an investigator from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms last Thursday as he examines the remains of a fiberglass production building at Gore Trailer Manufacturing. The structure was destroyed by fire the night before. The agent wears a mask to protect himself from airborne fiberglass particles. Staff photos by Mark Gilchrist |
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| David Gore and Bill Gore III survey the damage from the fire. |
from $400,000 fire loss
• Thursday fire leveled horse trailer manufacturing firm’s building where molds were made from fiberglass.
By BOB HIGH
Staff Writer
Apparent combustion from resin and a chemical catalyst used to produce fiberglass caused a fire early Thursday that destroyed one of the buildings at the Gore Trailer Manufacturing firm’s site south of Whiteville.
“Everything that was in or stored under a shelter outside the building is gone. We didn’t save anything,” Jackson Gore said Friday morning.
Gore estimated the loss at $400,000 and said the building and its contents were partially covered by insurance.
“It’ll take us another four to six weeks to get back into our everyday way of doing things,” Gore said. Seated in his company office, Gore was tired Friday as he celebrated his 68th birthday.
All of the firm’s molds for his high-quality trailers were lost, plus several items of specialized equipment. The fire – discovered at 3 a.m. Thursday – also consumed a 23-foot sailboat, a ski boat, a fishing boat, a jet ski, dune buggy and three farm tractors.
All of these items were under a 100-foot-by-20-foot shelter attached to the 4,800-square-foot building where the trailer molds were manufactured.
Gore Trailer is a local business that began in 1964 at its location along Gore Trailer Road – the “shortcut” from N.C. 130 that connects to U.S. 701 in the Williams Township community. There are 30 employees.
“I’ve got a great bunch of employees. Everyone of them is willing to work the extra hours and do what it takes to make sure our production isn’t completely stopped,” Gore declared.
“We’re finding nooks and crannies in our other buildings where we can set up and start making the frames for new molds to get us back up and running. I’ve very thankful no one was hurt,” the owner said.
The firm makes horse and stock trailers that are sold all across the eastern part of the country, largely through dealers in various states.
A July 1986 fire swept through the original buildings at the same location, and put the firm out of business for a time.