After devastating fire, greenhouse owners' focus changed
Added on 07 January 2020
Ten minutes earlier, George had been in the greenhouse watering stock plants. It was July 2 and the Albrights had just closed down for the season. The gas and electric had been shut off and George couldn't imagine how the greenhouse could catch on fire.
"It was impossible that anything could happen," George said. "I was still thinking that even as I was using a garden hose spraying the flames."
Minutes later, trucks from four fire departments arrived to battle the blaze, which caused extensive damage to one of two greenhouses and the headhouse, which the Albrights use for transplanting and as an office for their Glen Summit Floral Co. in Luzerne County.
Even after the fire was extinguished, the Albrights still couldn't comprehend how it had started.
"It was just very surreal. I was doing dishes, looked out the kitchen window and saw a big puff of black smoke," Jane said. "I thought there was a fire behind the greenhouse, and I just couldn't fathom that it was actually the greenhouse that was burning."
A forensics team from the Pennsylvania State Police determined the fire was arson, which led to more questions.
"Why us and why here?" George said.
The answer proved to be just as bewildering as the fire itself.
The night after the fire, Jane watched a report of the incident on the television news. Another story followed that a bank in the nearby town of Mountain Top had been robbed not long after the greenhouse fire was discovered.
She wondered if the two events were linked.
Sure enough, three days after the fire, police arrested a man for the bank robbery. According to arrest papers, the individual admitted to the bank robbery and told police he started the fire at the Albrights' greenhouse to create a diversion while he robbed the bank.
According to George, the individual, who was driving a stolen vehicle, parked behind the greenhouse, doused the structure with gasoline and lit the fire shortly before 9 a.m. Forty minutes later, he said, the bank was robbed at knifepoint.
"It's a nightmare to think that we would be used so he could rob a bank," Jane said.
The Albrights praised the quick response of the fire departments and said things could've been worse. A building that was near the blaze is used to store several tons of fertilizer for George's lawn care business, and the local fire departments, aware of the situation, prevented the flames from reaching the structure.
Not long after the fire occurred, the Albrights received an out-pouring of support from local greenhouse businesses, which offered supplies and space to house inventory during the aftermath.
"That meant a lot to us," George said. "People think that these other businesses are competitors, but in reality the agriculture community works together in times like this. We want to help keep each other afloat."
The damages to the greenhouse, which was built in 1953, and adjoining buildings, put the Albrights at a crossroads. The couple had operated the business for 40 years, and they recently downsized to lessen the workload.
George is 71 and Jane is approaching 70, and they questioned if rebuilding the business was a wise choice at this point in their lives.
"Maybe the fire was God's way of saying hang it up, but I think it was his way of telling us to make a decision," Jane said. "But we have a son and grandchildren, and we hope the business moves on to another generation, so we decided to rebuild."
And improve.
The plastic on the damaged greenhouse was replaced with polycarbonate panels, which offer better insulating properties. Benches, rafters and walls were all rebuilt with redwood because it withstands the high moisture levels and temperature changes inside the greenhouse. Construction crews even restored aesthetic elements of the business, such as antique wooden double doors in the headhouse.
New wiring and LED lights were also installed, and the old oil furnace and hot water heating system were replaced with more efficient natural gas.
"We started using the greenhouse for poinsettias before Christmas, and we had no trouble keeping it warm," George said. "It's very tight and doesn't leak heat. It was exciting to use the greenhouse again."
It took three months for construction to be completed, and after that the Albrights worked to get the word out that they were open. They advertised in local newspapers, posted updates on Facebook and asked their customers to spread the word.
The approach worked as the poinsettia sales prior to Christmas were up from last year, and people came from as far away as Philadelphia to patronize the business.
Now, the couple is preparing for the bedding plant season and Easter. The fire is behind them and normalcy has returned, but Jane still shudders at the image of black smoke rising into the air on that morning in July.
"I'll never forget looking out the kitchen window and seeing that smoke," she said. "But we faced this challenge, worked though it and we're looking forward. It's nice to be back in that routine again.'
Source and photo courtesy of Lancaster Farming
Source: Lancaster Farming
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