Thrift shop picks up the pieces
By Layla Wilder
Spring clothing and decorations would ordinarily cover the inside of the Inova Fair Oaks Hospital's Thrift Store on Lee Highway at this time of year.But a Feb. 15 fire ravaged much of the shopping strip in Fairfax City, and the store is now being emptied of items ruined by soot and water.
“It's so sad to look at all this now,” said store Manager Erma Ryan as she walked through the ruins more than a month after the fire.
About 25 units responded to fight the fire that began on the second story of the shopping center, according to Fairfax City Fire Chief Tom Owens.
Ryan was in the shop with customers and volunteers when she smelled smoke. She began going to all of the outlets to investigate before she realized there was a fire and called 911. People finally evacuated, but it took persuading for some of them to leave, Ryan said.
The flames heavily damaged the second floor of the center and water from fighting the fire damaged space on the first level, Owens said.
The thrift shop is managed by the hospital's Volunteer Auxiliary group for the hospital's benefit. The group is in the process of looking for another location quickly so they don't lose their base, Susan Tulino, a spokesperson for the hospital, said.
“We have loyal customers,” said Ryan, who has managed the store for four years. “Our donors and volunteers are going into withdrawal.”
In addition to bolstering some of the hospitals' unfunded needs and services, the store is “an important social network for a lot of the seniors who volunteer there,” Tulino said.
Donation boxes have been placed at the hospital and the strip mall, and the volunteers are looking for new small pieces of furniture, household items, and clothing. Several area shops have offered to make large donations, including Fairfax's Yesterday's Rose Thrift Store.
“We are so blessed with the donations we get,” Judy Stone, Yesterday's Rose manager, said. “This is the community thing to do.”
Times staff writer Frank Mustac contributed to this report.