Fire Destroys Business, Damages Two Others

Alabama Mobile The quick spreading blaze happened in Citronelle.

by Steve Alexander

Published: Tue, June 30, 2009 - 7:39 pm CST Last Updated: Tue, June 30, 2009 - 8:50 pm CST

A Citronelle woman said she was making a delivery when she learned her flower shop was being gutted by fire.
Fire destroyed Audrey's Flowers and Gifts and damaged two other businesses Tuesday afternoon.
The fire broke out shortly after 12:30 at 19835 North Third Street In Citronelle.
The owner of Audrey's, Jeanette Rowell, said, "I was delivering flowers in Washington County to the funeral home up there and my shop was burning down while I was up there."
When asked what went through her mind, Rowell said, "That I was losing everything that I worked so hard for."
Fire officials said when they arrived, fire was racing through the building that housed the flower shop and two other businesses.
Mike Dees with the Citronelle Volunteer Fire Department said, "All the roof between the three offices is all open. The fire spread all the way through the building from one end to the other."
Fire officials said the other two businesses inside the building, Citronelle Cleaners and the Hair Studio, suffered smoke damage.
The owner of the Hair Studio, Denise Byrd, said she was at lunch when employees phoned and told her the business was on fire.
Byrd said, "I rushed back up here and they had some of the stuff already out. That side down there was already engulfed in flames. It was a total loss. But we were lucky enough not to have all of our stuff totalled and they (firefighters) let us go in and get the rest of it out."
Rowell wasn't so lucky.
She said, "I don't know if I'll ever replenish everything I had. A lot of it was antiques, like my mother's, that burned, so I won't be able to replace any of that."
But Rowell and Byrd had something else in common besides the fire: perseverance.
When asked if she was going to re-open somewhere, Byrd said, "Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. No doubt."
When Rowell was asked if she would re-open, she said, "Oh, yes, I'll re-open. I'll re-open. Good Lord willing, we'll re-open."
At least four other fire companies joined Citronelle firefighters in putting out the blaze.
The cause is still under investigation.

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