May 18, 2023
Bill Bartee, host of the Carolina Outdoors, described how he discovered the news about the SouthPark fire that started just behind the brick & mortar outdoor store in Charlotte. After arriving at work that Thursday at 9 a.m., his phone rang. “Hey, what’s all that smoke starting up your way?” Jeff H., asked.
Bartee went out the back to discover the smoke across theparking lot from the store. “There’s a parking garage on the far side of the lot. I thought it was a car fire at first but the smoke kept coming.”
Griffin Gideon & Christopher Lawing, two associates & personalities at Jesse Brown’s quickly arrived.
Then it was a lot of smoke. More than any car burning.
And then the flames jumped. The flames went well over 100 feet into the air & reached temperatures over 2,000 degrees.
Here’s a video of the fire. Jesse Brown’s Outdoors located in Southpark is the brick building in the foreground.
They watched as the walls of the apartment construction site fell at 7700 Liberty Row Drive with the sirens of fire & rescue wailed in the background.
Bartee spoke about find the smoke which quickly accelerated into a large, five-alarm fire & helicopters circling in the air.
Later it was discovered & reported by the Charlotte Observer that 15 workers had to be rescued, including a crane operator. Two people were missing.
Jesse Brown’s & the Carolina Outdoors team sends prayers to all those affected by this fire tragedy in Southpark.
Jesse Brown’s has been the outdoor store located in the Southpark area of Charlotte for the past thirty years & powers the Carolina Outdoors podcast/radio program.
The store, with brands like Patagonia, Filson, Free Fly, & On Cloud stayed safe but appreciates the check-ins on the safety of the associates that work there.
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