{"id":9514,"date":"2026-01-16T20:41:58","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T01:41:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/?p=9514"},"modified":"2026-03-30T13:03:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T17:03:13","slug":"broyhill-furniture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legeros.com\/blog\/broyhill-furniture\/","title":{"rendered":"Broyhill Furniture Factory Fire – January 14, 1976"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Fifty years ago this month, the Broyhill furniture factory in Marion, NC, burned on January 14, 1976. Here are some notes about the incident.\u00a0<\/p>\n

– Wednesday morning.
\n– January 14, 1976.
\n– 11:05 a.m.<\/p>\n

– Otis L. Broyhill furniture plant on West Henderson Street. [AC, 1\/15\/76]
\n– Three-story building housed finishing room, where fire started.
\n– Three- or five-acre site, primarily wooden buildings, some of which were built in 1904. [WSJ, 1\/15\/76]
\n– Manufactured \u201cearly American-style white pine bedroom furniture.\u201d<\/p>\n

– Plant was “fully protected” by automatic sprinklers. [WSJ, 1\/16\/76]
\n– Had 1,500 GPM fire pump. [WSJ, 1\/16\/76]
\n– Reservoir with 300,000 gallons of water. [WSJ, 1\/16\/76]<\/p>\n

– Fire started in the finishing room. [AC, 1\/15\/76]
\n– Caused by a steam pipe \u201cthat was not ordinarily used\u201d was turned on and became so hot that it ignited the \u201clacquer mist, or fog\u201d in the room. [AC, 1\/15\/76]
\n– Flames then quickly spread to other buildings, including a warehouse where $3M to $4M of finished furniture was stored. [AC, 1\/15\/76]<\/p>\n

– The Broyhill fire brigade initially fought the fire. [WSJ, 1\/15\/76]
\n– They had the fire under control with “company hoses.” [WSJ, 1\/15\/76]
\n– Then their water supply “ran dry” and “the fire got away from them.” [WSJ, 1\/15\/76]<\/p>\n

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– County manager statement: \u201cThe fast spreading of the fire in the finishing area, a very high wind which carried the fire into the assembly and machining area, and the short water supply in the city system made it impossible to control a fire of this intensity.\u201d [AT, 1\/15\/76]<\/p>\n

– \u201cDuring the afternoon as the blaze raged out of control\u201d \u201cfire trucks jockeyed for good position to use hoses.\u201d [AC, 1\/15\/76]
\n– At the same time, public service messages were broadcast on the radio advising residents not to use water except in the case of an emergency. [AC, 1\/15\/76]<\/p>\n

– In the late afternoon, \u201ccity water was turned off,\u201d when \u201creservoir levels dropped dangerously low.\u201d [AC, 1\/15\/76]
\n– Water was shuttled from the \u201cCross Mill textile plant pond\u201d and from the Clinchfield Manufacturing Company. [AC, 1\/15\/76]
\n– Initially, the plant\u2019s 300,000 gallons of stored water were used, but the tank ran dry before the fire was extinguished. [AT, 1\/15\/76]<\/p>\n

– \u201cWe had it under control then we ran out of water.\u201d [AT, 1\/15\/76]
\n– The fire then spread to the “packing department.” [WSJ, 1\/15\/76]<\/p>\n

– Said MFD at 6:45 p.m., fire was being contained, with no damage to \u201csurrounding community\u201d expected \u201cunless we run out of water.\u201d<\/p>\n

– Some brick houses in the immediate area were also \u201chosed down\u201d as \u201cthe heat from the mounting blaze crept higher.\u201d
\n– Other firefighters kept a steady stream of water on \u201cseveral large tanks of lacquer.\u201d [AT, 1\/15\/76]
\n– There were also concerns that the fire could spread to the U.S. Champion’s Drexel Division plant, a larger furniture factory about 100 feet away. [WSJ, 1\/15\/76]<\/p>\n

– And within 200 feet of the factory, the area \u201cwas hot enough to belie the 40-degree temperature of the late afternoon.\u201d [AT, 1\/15\/76]<\/p>\n

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– There were 439 workers on site.
\n– No injuries to employees.
\n– Two firefighters \u201covercome by smoke\u201d and treated on scene. [GDN, 1\/15\/76]<\/p>\n

– Departments on scene were Marion, Glenwood, Nebo, Sugar Hill-Montford Cove, Woodlawn, Pleasant Garden, Asheford, Dysartsville, and Morganton.
\n– Asheville (35.6 road miles) and Lenoir (36.6 road miles) also cited as responded. [WSJ, 1\/15\/76]
\n– Asheville was requested in the afternoon.<\/p>\n

– Some 20 pieces of fire apparatus, including several pumpers.
\n– Morganton\u2019s aerial tower arrived about four hours into the incident (28 road miles) and was the first (and only?) aerial on scene. [WSJ, 1\/15\/76]<\/p>\n

– Some company records were salvaged. [AT, 1\/15\/76]
\n– Workers also moved a large quantity of stacked lumber to safety. The plant housed some 7 million feet of lumber. [AT, 1\/15\/76]
\n– Service was disrupted to 2,700 telephones, after the fire destroyed $10,000 of telephone equipment. [AT, 1\/15\/76]
\n– Electric power was also \u201cdeadened\u201d in the community surrounding the plant. [AT, 1\/15\/76]<\/p>\n

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Photos<\/strong><\/p>\n

See more photos in this Google Drive folder<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Color photos above from a video slideshow shared by Kimberly Wright posted on August 22, 2021<\/a>, to the You Know You’re From Marion, NC group on Facebook.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n

Various newspaper accounts including:<\/p>\n

Asheville Citizen, 1\/15\/76
\nAsheville Times, 1\/15\/76
\nHickory Daily Record, 1\/15\/76
\nNews and Record, 1\/15\/76
\nWinston-Salem Journal, 1\/16\/76<\/p>\n