Firm charts comeback after multi-million dollar fire

'oVe're going strong despite everything," emphasizes Jack Higgins, vp. of the J. E. Higgins Lumber Co., that was recently hit by a $2 million fire.

"Our firm is 86 years old; we came back bigger and better after the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906 and we're doing the same thing now."

Already underway rebuilding the site at 99 Bayshore, he said that half their timber inventory remained intact after the blaze. The mill was working soon after the fire; company offices are in a nearby shed. Higgins branch yard in Union City, across the bay, and the one in Sacramento have been doing an admirable job of backstopping since the Aug. 20 fire.

James IV. Higgins, company president, said the fire was discovered at 2:40 a.m. in a fifty-year-old shed on their eight-acre site. Overheating in a loaded kiln apparently triggered the fire, he explained.

Higgins and his wife, Donna, who live nearby, were awakened by the brightness of the flames. At their peak, flames soared 50 feet above the kiln. Though firemen controlled the huge blaze in less than three hours, thick smoke poured out for hours afterwards.

In addition to the loss of the lumber and the sheds, all covered by insurance, one pickup truck was destroyed. Virtually all the company records were intact as was a nearly priceless cast bronze piece titled o'The Hunters" which was in the main office.

Lumber Club Helps Hqndicqppd

Hoo-Hoo-Ette Club 3 presented a gift, in excess of $800, to the Recreation Center for the Handicapped, earmarking the funds for the summer camp program.

To raise the money, the club staged a "Summer Festival" party at the home of Betty and Jim Jones, Napa, Calif. Jim's company is the Foster Lumber Yard in Vallejo. Through the participation and generosity of members of the lumber industry, related industries, and friends, success was possible.

Over half of the funds to operate the center must come from donations and grants. Opportunities for recreation and social motivation are available to all handicapped-from pre-school to oldster.

Mid Poc Pushes Components

Mid Pac Lumber Company, Honolulu, Hawaii, is launched on a program to place all out merchandising emphasis on components, according to Wallace J. D. Lai, president and general manager. Items being stressed are wall panelling systems, kitchen cabinet, shower and fencing systems.

Founded in 1956, Mid Pac has enjoyed rapid expansion. In 1966, the company moved to its present lO-acre location near the Hawaiian International Airport. Complete milling facilities are maintained, including the specialty, manufacturing of gang nail trusses. Two hundred employees are on the payroll. A $2.5 million inventory is maintained and annual business volume is $12 million.

Lai believes he is the only lumber man with a public relations director who also prepares luncheons for him and his Bu6b, Miss Lillian Aping. Constant companion of Lai is a prize-winning German shephard, 3r/2years old, called Cui Lai.

G-P Absorbs Rounds Soles Office

Rounds Lumber Co. has consolidated its southern Calif. sales office into that o{ its corporate parent, Georgia-Pacific. Hugo Miller, who headed the office for Rounds for six years, is now working out of G'P's Pacific Southwest Div. in Pico Rivera, Calif. Bob Heberle heads the division. No changes have been made yet in the Rounds operation in Cloverdale, Calif.