Retailer Rebuilds After Disastrous Fire

ITLEMI\C.HICHTOWER LumLrer Co..

r slaggererl lrv a devastatirrg $155"000 fire which swept through the yard last August. has come up swirrgirrg tu re.capture its position as a major factor in the competitive la-. Angeles area lumbtr market.

The fire, which engulfed the firm's rnill building, completely destroyed all the mill equipment along with thousands of feet of lumber. When the flames died out. cleanup crews hauled away over 100 semi trailer loads of ashes and charred lumber.

"l'll have to admit that we had serious misgivings a'bout whether or not to rebuild," confesses Tom Flt:ming, youngcr half o{ the l'leming-Hightower team which has opcrated the Los Angeles yard since shortly after World War II. The other hall of the team is long-time lumberman Slim Hightower. now back in the harness after recovering lrom a stroke which he suffered several months aso.

"The luml,er mark"i *os ailing ancl property values had risen to a point that we questioned whether or not it would be profitable to rebuild the mill," Fleming continued.

A quick settlemcnt of the insurance daim oflered impetus to a decision to rebuild. Bit by bit, the firm began replacing the fire loss with a complete new re-mallufacturing plant.

The company is now in full production in a 6,000 sq. ft. mill {acility that houses a brand new lin.e of equipment, including three stickers, gang, and band ripsaws, a Turner resaw, table saws and a new large toe-opt-.rated hydraulic cut ofi saw for cutting timbers.

One of the problems faced in the rebuilding project was converting the electrical layout to a more e{licient 440-volt systcm. Electricians devised a trench which runs the length of the mill building and r:arries conduits {or the wiring. Machiner1 is mercly wired in through the trench system at different points along the line, therebv eliminating costly ovcrhead wiring. The system makes it simple and inexpcnsive to move machinery or adcl a new unit.

The re-building project also included the aildition o{ a massivc ne w luml,,cr shcd for dry stock storage. When city building o{Ecials nixed a pole building, Fleming callt'd on engineers of the C&I Construction Co. to install an all-steel structure. The result is a fireproof cantilcver building which rests on a line of steel I-beams. The mill building is also a steel structure.

Offices also got a face-lifting as a part o{ the re-l-'uilding program, which included the addition of Weldwood paneling throughout the building. Fleming-Hightower is a headquarlers dealer for Weldwood products.

"Our nen, mill has opened a whole new rvorld to us." enthused dealer Fleming, who describes his operation as "a more modern and efficient set-up." Many of the firm's customers are other retail yards in thc area.

Situated on a 71/2-acre tract on San Fernando Rd. near Glendale. the yard is one of two surviving retailers in an area which 15 \'('ars ago supported 13 large yards. The other survivor is l,ounsberry & Harris's yard just down the street.

150 Millionreasons Our Dealers Neuer Frct

It's pretty hard for a Palco dealer to worry. This is what's behind him: large timber resources, managed for production on a perpetual yield basis. An annual production capacity of over 150 million board feet. And an average inventory of approximately 100 million board feet. For nearly 100 years we've been delivering the goods. palco