The rancid smell of fire became a familiar scent during the Oregon wildfires in August. The whole canyon filled with dark, thick smoke and was accompanied by an eerie, other worldly, unsettling red light that put entire communities on edge.
While the fire raged in the Santiam Canyon, our whole team was working hard to help people as quickly as they were able because of their experience with another, smaller, but more personal fire in June. Able to fully empathize, our team kept the shops open to help everyone they could. The anxiety and smell of smoke may have overwhelmed them had they not recently dug through ashes to save what they could.
Capital Pawn’s Fire Experience
A catastrophic fire virtually destroyed our team’s building when two lithium battery powered skateboards started a short, intense, violent fire the evening of June 11, 2020. Almost exactly two months to the day later, a wildfire ripped through homes and businesses located in the Santiam Canyon. The team at Capital Pawn was ready and helping everyone they could as quickly as they were able.
Now we are re-building the shop using just the four concrete walls! In conjunction with Dalke Construction, we are working daily to have our building running at full capacity before June 11 (recognize that date?).
Follow our Facebook page to see our progress. As we progress toward a fully functioning building, we will also periodically post about the activity here on our blog.
That stench of rancid smoke has been replaced by the smell of fir as the charred beams were replaced by beautiful new fir beams.
Our Next Steps
We are looking forward to the next step which is roofing! As we are rebuilding, we know many families are also rebuilding their homes and lives and want them to know we understand and are here working if you need us. We offer exceptionally low prices on pre-loved items you may need and reasonable loans for almost anything of value. Just stop in at any of our locations: Beaverton, Salem, Albany, McMinnville, and now Portland.
While you can get a loan by walking into any of our five locations during business hours, you can shop online with us 24/7 at Capital Pawn.
Look at that ceiling! And it smells amazing.
Smoke (on a clearer day!) on the way to our home from work in August
Getting ready to work just hours after the fire in our building. Good attitudes amid tragedy, chaos, and confusion, make things much easier. June 2020
