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One of the last remaining buildings of the old Owosso furniture plant in Benton burned Tuesday night, sending flames climbing into the night sky and producing billowing clouds of black smoke that could be seen from great distances.  Capt. Brad Besancon of the Benton Fire Department watches over what is left of the old Owosso furniture plant at Willow and East streets that was destroyed by a fire that started around 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Besancon said the fire was contained early today, but because of the danger it poses to firefighters, the department is letting the remains continue to burn down. Related photo on page 6B. (Courier photo by Matt Burks)
Owosso, which manufactured a fine line of furniture, once employed up to 500 people, but it had been closed for many years. The structure more recently had housed a cabinet shop that was used infrequently.
 Capt. Greg Ford of the Benton Fire Department looks over the scene of a massive fire Tuesday night that destroyed one of the primary buildings of Benton’s old Owosso furniture factory. The plant that once employed as many as 500 people has been closed for many years. Richard Alley, the current owner of the structure, said it has been used as a cabinet shop in recent years. Vandals or transients are believed to have cause the fire, Benton Fire Chief Ben Blankenship said today. Story and photo on page 1A. (Courier photo by Daniel Sample)
Vandals or transients are believed to have caused the fire in the isolated area on Willow Street south of Edison Avenue in south Benton, Benton Fire Chief Ben Blankenship said.
“It’s still under investigation, but that’s what we believe today,” the chief said.
Firefighters will be spending the next two to three days at the scene, Blankenship said today.
The decision was made to “let the fire burn itself out,” he said. “That building was so old and the electrical system had never been updated, so we made the decision to let it burn itself out.
“There was not enough water anywhere to put that building out. It was so old and dry ... and extremely flammable. It was a target area we had identified. We knew that eventually there might be a fire there ... .
“Turtle Creek brought their tanker in because we had a water issue on one side and they were dumping water for us,” Blankenship said.
“The biggest threat Tuesday night was to houses to the south on Palm Street and the adjacent building, but our firefighters followed our plan to the letter,” Blankenship said. “They did an excellent job and everybody went home safely.
“The safest thing to do is allow it to burn out, and that may take several days.”
Richard Alley, the current owner of the building, said the structure had been used as a cabinet shop in recent years.
“This is what they called the Ben-Ark building,” Alley explained at the fire scene Tuesday night.
“I worked here [at Owosso] many years ago,” he said. “Originally, there were 300,000 square feet of buildings and this one had 35,000 square feet at one time.”
Owosso formerly was owned by Woodrow Jones.
An adjacent structure, which had served as the plant’s office, sustained some siding damage, Blankenship said today.
“Someone [from the fire department] will be there 24-7 to make sure that the fire doesn’t leave the site and to make sure that no one gets harmed,” the fire chief said.
“No one had been down here since last Thursday,” Alley said. “A lady from Weise (Eddie Wise Towing and Service) called and said there was a fire down here in the building.”
Alley said the building has been “broken into several times. I think it was probably kids.”
Blankenship said the building’s isolated location made it difficult to secure the structure.
“People would break in here to steal the copper from the building,” he said.
Benton firefighters were called to the blaze about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday and remained at the scene throughout the night, Blankenship said.
“From the time the firefighters arrived, they focused on the primary building and they did an excellent job,” the chief said.
He said there were “probably at one time 18 firefighters” at the scene.
Bryant firefighters were notified of the situation and remained on standby in the event that another fire had occurred in Benton, Blankenship said. “We had one company available to go to another fire, but we would have needed them for help if there had been another fire.”
Blankenship is more than familiar with the Owosso plant area himself since he grew up in Benton and “many years ago I hauled freight out of there for Howell Truck Lines.”
He reminisced about the once-thriving business that provided a livelihood for hundreds of area residents. “They used to produce the finest dining room and bedroom furniture in the country. Most of the furniture factories in North Carolina were envious of it because they knew how well it was made.”
Blankenship also recalled how Jones Furniture on Edison was well-known for the chairs and sofas made there. “It was a heavy, high-quality industry here. There were some very talented craftsmen in this community.”
Fire officials said the building contained paint, varnish, oil and other combustible materials.
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