Barber’s street-side haircut during fire gains attention on social media
By Brad Broders
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FOREST CITY, North Carolina (WYFF) — The cleanup and investigation continue in Forest City, North Carolina — one day after a major fire destroyed a historic downtown business Monday evening.
Fire officials say the Farmers Hardware Building — built more than 100 years ago — is now a total loss, as investigators work to determine a cause and the owner figures out next steps.
Tuesday afternoon, WYFF 4 saw crews setting up fencing and boarding around the business.
In speaking with longtime residents, the fire is also showcasing the community’s resiliency, including one downtown worker making the rounds on a social media video.
“You hate to see setbacks, but I know that we’ll rebound,” Robert Landis said.
Tuesday, the lifelong Forest City resident surveyed the damage and reflected on his childhood.
“I can remember going in when I was little and, of course, when you are a kid, going in a hardware store or a tool store is like going into a playground,” Landis said.
He’s talking about the now-destroyed and former hardware and souvenir store in the heart of Main Street.
A planned restoration of the building was set to be a key piece of Forest City’s ongoing downtown revitalization.
“We’ve been trying to promote business and everything for so long, and finally getting it back, it’s just hard to see that’s a setback,” Landis added.
Connie Taylor works in the area near the fire, and after being evacuated by police Monday, she finished her client’s haircut outside while firefighters contained the flames, a moment captured on video and shared online.
“The only thing I took out was my shears and my comb, so she was already draped, so we got down there, and I said, ‘we might as well finish,’” Taylor said. That’s what I did. I don’t know if it’s good or if it’s crazy, but I finished it!”
Within 24 hours, the video garnered more than 440,000 views on Facebook.
Taylor — and so many others in Forest City — are also thankful for the quick efforts of firefighters in preventing the flames from spreading to other nearby businesses.
“There’s a lot of flammable stuff here and a lot of flammable stuff at the nail spot, so we were grateful,” Taylor added.
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is working to determine the cause of the fire. No one was injured in the blaze.
The Forest City mayor is hopeful a new structure can still be built in its place after the cleanup.
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